A Hint to The Powers That Be
by LJEvans
Summary: Hints to the SG1 writers for scenes we would have liked to have seen in season 9 and scenes we would still like to see in season 10. SJ
1. Chapter 1

_**A Hint for The Powers That Be**_

Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, UA/MGM, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringment is indented. The original characters, stories and situations are the property of the author.

A/N: 'A Hint to the Powers That Be' is a collection of short scenarios by which TPTB could show us, the fans, that Sam and Jack are together in season 9.

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The newly reformed SG1 consisting of Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, stood at the base of the ramp in the embarkation room.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Mitchell "I got the band back together!"

Daniel ignored Cameron's outburst and instead turned his attention to Sam while waiting for the gate to finish its dialing sequence.

"So, Sam, how were things at Area 51?"

"Great, Daniel."

"How's Jack?"

"What?"

"Well, you have been seeing each other haven't you?"

"Where'd you get that idea, Daniel?"

"I was at the cabin too, Sam."

"Right. That doesn't mean that there's anything between the General and me."

"Ok, if you say so."

The stargate whooshed to life and General Landry announced "SG1 you have a go."

Sam pulled a well worn, olive drab ball cap out of her back pocket and put it on her head carefully shaping the bill, and grinning ear to ear.


	2. Scenario number 2

_**Scenario Number Two**_

A/N: Hey! Thanks for the reviews! And to jannissima and SG-1 fan, I thought I was the only one who caught that remark about selling a motorcycle. I'm including that in the next scenario! Ok, I've got a couple more little vignettes for The Powers That Be. Here's another scenario that they could have given us in Avalon Part I.. Come on guys, throw us shippers a bone!

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"I have my reasons for wanting this job" Sam said to Cameron Mitchell via video link.

"What the hell did she mean by that?" Cameron asked Sergeant Harriman after the video link had been terminated.

"Uh, Sir, I'm not the person you should be asking. Why don't you ask Doctor Jackson."

"You know! I can tell, Walter! You know!"

"Sir, please, just ask Doctor Jackson."

"Oh, alright." Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell levered himself up from the comfortable chair in the control room and headed out for Doctor Jackson's office. He figured if nothing else a conversation with the man would slow down his attempts at packing.

Once in Daniel's office he didn't waste any time getting right to the point. "Sergeant Harriman told me that I should ask you what Sam's reasons are for wanting a job away from the SGC."

"So, she turned you down too." Daniel said, not looking up from his packing.

"Yeah. Guess I'm not getting the band back together."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get along just fine."

"So, really, what are Sam's reasons for leaving?"

This time Daniel stopped what he was doing and looked at the eager, young Colonel. "You really don't know? You must be the only person in this mountain who doesn't know!"

"Ok, so enlighten me."

"She's been seeing General O'Neill. Her and Jack have a 'thing'."

"Huh?"

"Well, her and Jack have had a 'thing' for years, but they couldn't do anything about it. After Jack was appointed Head of Homeworld Security Sam requested the R and D job so that they could be together. She's not going off world, getting into life and death situations and Jack's not her CO, so the fraternization rules don't apply.

"General O'Neill and Sam? Who wouldda thought it?"

"Well, everyone on this base who's been here for more than six months."

"What?"

"Thousands of dollars changed hands the day that Sam asked for re-assignment to R&D. Even General Hammond had a bet riding on those two."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."


	3. Scenario 3

_**Scenario 3**_

A/N: Again, nothing too overt, not as subtle as the first Scenario, but it gets the message across.

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Sam had enjoyed being on the Daedalus, but she was happy to be back on Earth. She was trying to get settled in a small apartment in town while still putting in 12 hour work days. She was unpacking some kitchen stuff when her cell phone rang. 

"Carter." She said as she flipped the phone open without checking the caller ID.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" The familiar voice asked.

"I miss you." She said.

"Yeah, me too. I'm in Colorado Springs right now. Just got done talking to Landry."

"How's he doing?"

"Good.."

"Did ya sell my motorcycle yet?"

"Not yet. Got a couple of kids interested, we'll see."

"So, when am I going to see you again?"

"Well, it seems that as the Head of Homeworld Security, I have an airplane at my disposal whenever I need it. So, I'm pretty sure that I need to check up on the Research and Development people. Who knows what they're doing out there in the dessert."

"Well, that's true, could be anything ya know."

"I'll be there in a couple hours, Sam."

"I'll be here."

"Ok, see ya soon. Bye."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and suddenly felt very nervous. Sam and Jack had basically been seeing each other since just before the trip to the cabin, but she hadn't seen him for a month and she was nervous about seeing him again.

'Two hours' she thought. She looked around the small apartment. Except for the boxes she was unpacking in the kitchen, the place was fairly neat and tidy.

She went to the bedroom, stripped the sheets off the bed and threw them in the washer. Then she looked at her closet, wondering what she should wear. Finally she just pulled out a pair of black slacks and a pink sweater.

Sam tidied up the kitchen and dusted the furniture in the living room. By the time she had done that it was time to put the sheets in the dryer. Once the sheets were bouncing around in the dryer, she went to take a quick shower and then got dressed in the clothes she had laid out earlier. After she dried her hair and put on a little make up, Sam got the sheets out of the clothes dryer and put them back on the bed.

Samantha Carter stood in the middle of her small living room and looked around. It was neat enough, even though it wasn't nearly as nice as the house she had in Colorado Springs.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Sam's heart skipped a beat and there were butterflies in her stomach! Why was she reacting like a this?

She opened the door. Major General Jack O'Neill stood there in full dress uniform, hat down low and mirrored sunglasses over his eyes. God, did he look hot! She always did have a thing for a man in uniform and he filled out that uniform so nicely!

"General O'Neill, what brings you to Nevada?" She teased.

"Oh, this hot lieutenant colonel I know."

"Hot?"

"Oh, yeah."he drawled as he looked her up and down.


	4. Scenario 4 Deja Vu

_**Scenario 4 - Deja vu**_

Samantha Carter stepped into the elevator at the SGC with Colonel Mitchell. Cameron pressed the elevator button and the machine began to descend. Sam looked up at the level display and hummed happily to herself.

"Well, Sam, you seem to be in a good mood for a Monday morning."

"Do I?" She asked innocently.

"Well, you're humming."

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Sorry."

"There's nothing wrong with humming. I was just wondering why."

"Why what?"

"Why you're humming."

They stood in silence for a moment and then Sam said "I had a great weekend."

"And that's why you're humming?"

"Yes."

"Well, what did you do this weekend?"

"Went fishing" Just then the elevator door opened and Sam stepped out. She turned and said over her shoulder "in Minnesota." 

She grinned and walked off toward her lab.


	5. Scenario 5 Beachhead

_**Scenario 5**_

A/N Here's what they didn't show us in Friday night's episode of the Beachhead:

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The phone rang in Samantha Carter's lab in Area 51. Without looking away from the piece of equipment she had been working on, Sam picked up the phone.

"Carter."

"Hey, beautiful, what's up?"

"Jack," she said warily "what is it you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Your blatant use of flattery."

"It wasn't blatant."

"Ya sure you betchya!"

"Ok, Sam, I need you to report to the SGC for a temporary duty assignment."

"What's wrong." She said, suddenly serious, forgetting the equipment she was working on.

"Oh, those Ore-Eye guys have commandeered the stargate on a Jaffa world and they've maintained an open wormhole for 2 days now. They've got some kind of force field surrounding the gate and the Jaffa can't shut it down. General Landry thinks that the Mark 9 can take out the stargate and stop the Ori. Since you are the foremost expert on the Mark 9..."

"When do I leave?"

"A couple hours. Its all arranged."

"Well, I better get packed."

"When you get to the SGC, give me a call on your cell phone before you report to Landry."

"Ok...why?"

"Cause I'm gonna call him and tell him that I'm not willing to risk you going on this mission and while I've got him on the phone you can show up in his office!"

"Very funny, Jack."

"Come on, Sam, it'll be worth it to see the look on his face."

"Ok, I'll call you as soon as I get there."

"Sam..." his voice was serious now.

"Yes?"

"Be careful."


	6. Scenario 6

_**Scenario 6**_

A/N: Thank you to JJ for the inspiration for this vignette.

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There was a knock at the door of Jack's apartment in Washington DC. When he opened it, he was surprised to see General George Hammond standing there.

"George! What are you doing back in DC? I thought you were in the Pegasus Galaxy."

"Even I get some time off, Jack."

"Yeah, Well, come on in, let me get you a beer."

Jack went to his small kitchen and pulled two bottles of beer out of the refrigerator.

"Have a seat George." He indicated the kitchen table as he handed the General a beer.

"You seem to be settling in here in Washington, Jack."

Jack's mood suddenly became a little darker. "It was hard to turn down that extra star, and the pay raise that went with it, but I gotta tell ya, George, I've never liked Washington. All the politics and state dinners and the Joint Chiefs..." His voice trailed off.

"Believe me, I know, son." George Hammond took a long pull on his beer "So, Jack, when are you and Colonel Carter going to get married?" He said very nonchalant.

Jack choked on his beer. "What?"

"Come on, Jack, you're not her CO anymore. You gonna tell me you too haven't..."

"George! I can't believe you!"

"I've got a hundred dollars riding on this. I picked December, 2006. Oh, and if Thor comes to the wedding I win an additional $100.00!"

"George, why does everyone assume that the minute I left the SGC that Sam and I became an item?"

"Well, actually, I assume it happened just before you left."

"What!"

"Jack, I was at Jacob's funeral, I saw you and Sam together at the service and knowing you both as I do, it didn't take an astrophysicist to figure it out."

"Oh."

General Hammond stood up "I've got to get going. Thanks for the beer, Jack." He patted Jack on the shoulder and said "Remember, even if I'm wrong about the date, I still win a hundred dollars if you get Thor to come to the wedding!"


	7. Scenario 7 Washington DC

**_Scenario 7 _**

General Jack O'Neill had been in Washington for 6 months now and this was the 6th political shindig he'd been required to attend. It was being held in the East Ballroom of the White House. Something to impress dignitaries or some such crap, he thought.

Jack had arrived on time, been pawed and mauled by the security guys before being allowed to proceed into the ballroom. He was wearing his dress blues, as a function of this sort required. The President's Own Marine Corps Band was playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons as Jack stepped into the ballroom. A waiter walked by and Jack snagged a flute of champagne off his tray. He quickly downed the drink and stopped another passing waiter to swap the empty glass for a full one. Yeah, Jack really hated these things.

Lt. Colonel Davis saw General O'Neill from across the room, and walked over to chat with him for a moment. Jack started to make the rounds, greeting a couple of the Joint Chiefs, a senator, the senator's wife.

These political affairs always attracted a number of single, young women, dressed to the nines, hoping to catch themselves a politically powerful man, or at least get lucky with one.

Jack O'Neill was a handsome, sexy man, especially in dress blues and that fact did not go unnoticed by many of the single women. Two of them in particular, who looked to be in their early 20's, wearing elaborate ball gowns, stood watching as Jack exchanged an empty champagne glass for a full one.

The two women went to the ladies room to check their makeup and their battle plan.

They walked into the women's room and took no notice of the Air Force officer, in uniform, washing her hands.

"So, " the brunette said to the redhead "What do you think of General O'Neill?"

"I think he looks good enough to eat" replied the redhead. "What do you know about him?"

"Just the basics, Head of Homeworld Security, not involved with anyone and gorgeous!"

"Yeah, He does look good for an old guy!"

"Hey, he's younger than a lot of the old farts that always attend these things" said the brunette.

"Let's tag team him." Said the redhead as she checked her lipstick in the mirror.

"Right." Said the brunette and they left the restroom.

The female Air Force officer followed them out but kept her distance, never taking her eyes off the hussies who were about to descend on General O'Neill.

The two women came up beside Jack, one taking his right arm the other taking his left.

"So, what do you say we blow this pop stand, General O'Neill?" The redhead purred.

"Um, do I know you?" Jack asked.

"No, but we know you." The brunette whispered in his ear.

"Come on, General, we can go some place more ...private...and have a party of our own." The redhead was playing with the stars on his collar.

The brunette leaned into him and said in a husky voice "I love a man in uniform."

Sam had all she could take. She walked up to General O'Neill and looked him square in the eyes. "Good evening, General." there was a twinkle in her eye that told Jack all he needed to know.

"Colonel, so nice to see you again."

"Come on, Jack, let's get out of here." The redhead pouted

"General, when you're done with the Minor Leagues and want to move up to the Majors let me know." Sam said as she unbuttoned the pocket on Jack's uniform jacket and slid her credit card style hotel key into his pocket. "The Hyatt Regency." She said and then turned quickly and headed for the champagne fountain.

Sam grabbed a glass of the bubbly and turned around to watch the show.

"Uh, ladies," Jack looked first to the redhead and then the brunette "If you will excuse me, ..." He slipped out of the arms of the female vipers.

"Hey! You're dumping us for **_her_**?" The redhead asked.

"She's **_military_**!" The brunette said like it was distasteful.

"She's **_old_**!" The redhead added.

"And she's **_mine_**." Jack replied leaving the two young women standing there with their mouths gaping open..

He came up beside Sam, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said with a smile "What took you so long to get here?"

"My flight was delayed." she replied. "Then I had to stop at your apartment to get changed into my dress blues."

"What did you put in my pocket, Sam?"

"My library card."

He laughed and then said "So as my new little friends said, you wanna blow this pop stand?"

"Ya sure you betcha!"


	8. Scenario 8

_**Scenario 8**_

A/N: Since RDA is not on the show this season, I have tried to come up with several scenarios where TPTB can let us know that Sam and Jack are together, without Jack being present. Now, yes, we would all love to see Sam and Jack on screen doing shippy things, but right now I just want to KNOW that they took their relationship to the next level!

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Doctor Jackson and Colonel Carter sat in the commissary eating lunch when a young Major came over and asked if he could join them. Daniel and Sam exchanged glances, as Sam invited him to have a seat across from her.

"You're the new 2IC on SG11 right?" Sam asked the young officer.

"Yes, ma'am, Tom Reynolds." He said as he held out his hand.

Sam shook his hand and said "Nice to meet you Major Reynolds."

"Please, call me Tom."

"Ok, Tom."

Sam looked over at Daniel and the man was positively smirking. He was doing everything in his power to keep from laughing. He recognized that the Major was clearly interested in Sam.

"So, Colonel Carter, you're back on SG1 again?" Tom asked.

"Yes, and you can call me Sam."

"Ok. So, Sam, I've heard so much about you and SG1, do you think you could you give me some pointers, you know, things to look out for when going off world, things you should always make sure you have with you when you're off world, places to go out for a quite dinner and drinks in Colorado Springs."

"Uh, that's probably advice you need to get from your CO." She said with a smile.

Meanwhile Daniel began to chuckle.

"I've got an important project that I'm working on so, I need to get back to my lab. It was nice meeting you Tom. See you later Daniel." Sam got up from the table and left the archeologist with Major Reynolds.

The Major turned to Daniel and asked "Does she go out with someone? Does she have a boyfriend?"

"Um, do you know Major **General** Jack O'Neill?"

"The head of Homeworld Security? I know **_of_** him."

"Well, um...he's the guy she goes out with."

The Major's mouth dropped open as laughter broke out from another table across the commissary. Between clenched teeth the Major said "I'm going to get those guys on my team if it's the last thing I do!"


	9. Chapter 9 Deja Vu 2

_**Scenario 9 **_

_**Deja Vu Two**_

It was still dark outside when the phone on the bedside table rang, awakening General Jack O'Neill. Groggily he reached for the receiver, without taking his head from the pillow.

"What?" He croaked.

There was a pause as he listened to the person on the other end of the line and tried to get his mind to focus.

"Alright. I'll take care of it." He said into the phone and hung up.

He rolled over, put his arm around the waist of the woman sleeping next to him, kissed her neck and whispered in her ear "Sam?"

"What was it, Jack?" She mumbled sleepily.

"They need you at the SGC."

"Damn." She groaned softly. She put her arm around his neck as he bent down to kiss her.

"I'll make coffee while you get ready" he said.

"Jack, are you going in too?"

"Yeah, I'll go in for the briefing before I head back to Washington."

"When will you be back again?"

"I don't know, but I think it's your turn to come and see me."

"Who knew a long distance relationship could be so difficult." She complained.

"Hey, at least I'm not on another planet!"

"That's true." She smiled and kissed him before getting up to save the world - again.


	10. Scenario 10

_**Scenario 10**_

A/N: Another scenario that does not require Jack to be "on screen".

SG1 was departing for P4R-459 in 30 minutes. Daniel Jackson was geared up and ready to go, so he decided to stop by Colonel Carter's lab and see if she was ready yet. When he arrived at her lab he found her talking on the phone. She waved for him to come in.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

She nodded but still had the phone to her ear. Sam turned her back to Daniel and said into the phone "I have to go, Jack." She paused then said "Yes, I'll be careful." There was a short pause then in a softer voice she said "Yeah, me too."

She hung up the phone and turned toward the archeologist.

"I'm ready, Daniel"

As the two were walking down the narrow corridors of the SGC Daniel said "So, calling Jack now before you go off world?"

"Yeah." She replied sheepishly.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Sam. I'm glad for you guys."

"Really?" She said with a big smile.

"Really." Daniel returned her smile.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Scenario 12**_

A/N: I am having great fun with these scenarios. Thank you to SeedC for requesting this vignette. I hope you like it! Please keep the reviews coming!

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Somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy on board the Prometheus.

General George Hammond sat contentedly in the Captain's chair on the bridge of the Prometheus. The ship came out of hyper space and suddenly an Asgard vessel appeared on the view screen. Before the major who was sitting at the control panel could state the obvious, Thor beamed aboard.

"Thor! I wasn't expecting to see you!" The General exclaimed.

"General Hammond, you sent me a message stating that it was urgent we communicate."

"Uh, yes, Thor, I did. Could you come with me to my ready room?"

"Of course."

Thor followed General Hammond off the bridge. When they were alone together in the General's ready room Thor said "General Hammond, you indicated that there was an urgent problem with Colonel Carter and General O'Neill. I am quite concerned. How may I be of assistance?"

"Uh, Thor, it's not the usual kind of mess that O'Neill and Carter are in this time. You see, Jack is no longer Sam's Commanding Officer so they are involved in um,...a personal relationship."

Thor blinked his big black eyes at the General and cocked his head to the side trying to figure out why this was a galactic emergency.

Hammond continued. "Well, they are being pig headed and stubborn, as usual, and they aren't even admitting to their friends that they are in a relationship, and they definitely won't tell me when the wedding is going to be. They both think very highly of you Thor and I'm sure if you asked they would tell you."

Thor studied General Hammond for a moment, blinked his large black eyes and said "How much did you wager on their nuptials General Hammond?"

"Five hundred dollars. I thought I had an inside track with them."

"Some time ago when Carter and O'Neill were assisting with a replicator problem, they introduced me to something called Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. I believe they called the flavor 'Chunky Monkey'. It was quite unique and I found it most pleasing."

"How much do you require, Thor?"

"I believe 5 gallons will be sufficient."

"Five **_gallons_**?"

"Yes, General, five gallons."

"Very well." Hammond put out his hand to shake on the deal with Thor. "Done!" He said.

Moments later Thor beamed away.

Several hours passed before Thor once again beamed aboard the Prometheus.

"General Hammond, I must speak to you at once in private."

"Of course, Thor. Please follow me to my ready room."

"General, I have spoken to O'Neill and Carter. I am afraid they would not divulge any information regarding the possibility of nuptials between them. I am sorry."

General Hammond squinted at Thor a moment and then asked "What did they give you, Thor?"

"They merely pointed out that you would not have five gallons of Chunky Monkey on board the Prometheus and that I would have to wait until you got back to earth to receive payment."

"And..." the General prompted.

"They also reminded me that I may require their assistance again and they would rather something of this nature not come between us."

"Thor..."

"They gave me five gallons of Chunky Monkey **_and_** five gallons of Chubby Hubby."

"What!"

"I'm afraid you have been out bid, General Hammond."

"But, Thor, did they invite you to their wedding?"

"And an additional gallon of Phish Food for refusing to answer that question. Nice to see you again, General Hammond." Thor said just before he beamed away leaving the General alone in his ready room with his mouth gaping open.


	12. Scenario 12 Ex Deus Machina

_**Scenario 12**_

_**Ex Deus Machina - Tag**_

A/N: The Powers That Be did it! They finally gave us a hint that Sam and Jack are together! I thought the scene was very good, but I think Agent Barrett might have pressed Sam for details. A note to SeedC - I will work on your request, I've got a couple ideas for Anise!

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After Daniel left the surveillance truck Agent Barrett felt nervous and awkward being alone with Colonel Samantha Carter. He had been attracted to her since the first time they worked together when _then_ Colonel O'Neill had been framed for the murder of Senator Kinsey.

Agent Barrett attempted to break the tension. " How've you been?" he asked.

"Pretty Good. You?"

"Pretty good. Can't complain." Boy, this is a lame conversation he thought. " What's new?" he asked.

"Ah let's see...I was leading R&D for awhile there."

"Well, I never figured you the type to settle for a desk job."

"I needed something with more flexible hours. Janet's adopted daughter Cassie was going through a hard time."

"Oh, I see."

"I spent some time on the Prometheus away on deep space reconnaissance. Oh! I helped stop a dangerous new enemy from getting a foothold in the galaxy."

"Yes! I heard about that." Agent Barrett had noticed from the first moment Sam entered the van that she was not wearing a ring. He was hopeful that Pete was out of the picture and figured by now there had been enough small talk that he could bring up the subject. "How's Pete?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"We broke up."

"Really." Barrett could not help the tiny smile that flitted across his face and the hope in his heart that he could have a chance with the beautiful Samantha Carter. He quickly recovered and said "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It was the best thing for both of us."

Was it too early to believe that maybe he could get a date with Sam? "So you're single again?" He said with hope in his voice and smile on his face.

"Not exactly." She looked around evasively, smiled, and hoped he wouldn't press her for more details.

"Not exactly?" he echoed. "Does that mean...what does that mean?" He felt defeated.

"I'm seeing someone."

"Anyone I know?"

"I don't think you've ever met him." She answered truthfully. Sure, he damn well knew **_who_** General Jack O'Neill was, but Jack was in jail when Sam and Agent Barrett worked to prove that it was members of the NID who were responsible for the assassination attempt on Kinsey, not Jack.

"Oh. Is he a civilian then?"

"Agent Barrett, I think we need to focus on the problem at hand. Ba'al? A naquada bomb?"

"Oh, yeah, right." He replied sheepishly.

They sat in silence for a time, monitoring their equipment. Finally Barrett spoke again. "Well, when you break up with this guy..." he decided** not** to say he'd like to take her out.

"We've waited for this for such a long time, there **_SO_** better not be any breaking up!"

There was silence again as Barrett tried to figure that one out.

"An old flame from your Academy days?" He ventured a guess.

"No." She grinned and shook her head.

Barrett studied her for a moment. "Well, I'm glad for you. You seem really happy."

"I am." She said, this time with a full blown, patented, Samantha Carter smile. This time she knew it was the truth, she really was happy.


	13. Scenario 13 AniseFreya

_**Scenario 13**_

_**Anise versus Freya**_

A/N: There was no way to write an Anise/Freya vignette without Jack. Enjoy!

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General Landry, all of the newly reformed SG1 and General O'Neill were seated around the table in the briefing room deep under Cheyenne Mountain. Since the Prometheus was still in orbit around Earth, General O'Neill had been beamed to the SGC to save time. Ba'al cloning himself and living on Earth was definitely a Homeworld Security issue.

As the officers were discussing how to proceed on the Ba'al matter, klaxons blared and the announcement "Unscheduled off world activation!" boomed through the complex. Everyone one seated at the conference table got up quickly and proceeded to the gate control room.

"Chief, report!" Bellowed General Landry.

"Receiving IDC, Sir. It's the Tok'ra."

"Open the iris." Ordered Landry.

The barrier churned open and a few seconds later Anise stepped through the event horizon.

Sam and Jack exchanged a glance. "Great!" Jack's voice dripped sarcasm. "I wonder what she wants now!"

"Jack, do you know her?" Landry asked.

"Yeah, her name is Anise. Be careful of this one, Hank."

SG1 followed Landry out of the control room to the embarkation room.

Anise looked around the group until she found General O'Neill. She stepped toward him. "General O'Neill it's good to see you again."

"Yeah, well, wish I could say the same for you."

Anise pretended not to hear the comment. "I have heard that Ba'al is on Earth and I have come across a new technology which I believe would be of assistance to you in ridding your world of this menace."

"Well, Anise, this is General Landry" Jack waved a hand toward the General "and he is now in charge of the SGC. It will be his approval you'll need."

Anise looked at Landry and then asked "May we all go to your conference room so that I may show you the device I have discovered?"

Landry looked over at Jack who shrugged. "Very well. Follow me." Landry said and he led the group out of the room.

When all of SG1, and the two Generals were seated in the briefing room Anise began. "I have recently found these." She laid three metallic arm bands on the table. Each band was about 2 inches wide and had 2 small buttons, one red and one green.

"Oh, no! No bracelets for me!" Exclaimed Daniel.

"I have heard of your unfortunate incident with the bracelets, Daniel Jackson, but I assure you these arm bands are not the same type of device. These are phase shifters. Essentially, they cause the wearer to become slightly 'out of phase'. The wearer's atoms are shifted just enough that they remain partially in this dimension and partially in another dimension."

"So, what is the benefit of this phase shifting?" Asked Landry.

"Well, General, it means that the wearer, while still being able to see and hear everything that is happening in this dimension, will be invisible to everyone in both dimensions."

"Carter, is this possible?" Jack asked.

"Yes, Sir. Do you remember a couple years ago when we were all infected with a virus that caused us to see the giant insect like creatures that exist in another dimension?"

"Yeah, they appeared to pass right through solid objects." Jack said

"And, so can the wearer of these bracelets." Added Anise.

"So, along with the invisibility, the wearer can walk through solid walls and doors?" Asked Daniel.

"Yes."

"What are the drawbacks?" Asked Teal'c.

"There are none." Replied Anise.

"Now see, that's where I'm not buying this. Whenever the Tok'ra are involved there are always drawbacks."

"I do not understand, General."

"Oh, yes you do. There was that little incident with the super human strength armbands, and then the Zatarc fiasco... There's always a drawback." O'Neill paused before he questioned "Carter?"

"Well, Sir, I would imagine that the possibility exists that the wearer could get stuck in the 'out of phase' mode and never get back into phase in their own dimension."

"See." Jack sounded almost triumphant. "I knew there would be some disadvantage to your little doohickey here."

"General, please, I am only trying to help."

"Jack," Landry interjected "I think we should consider her offer before rejecting it out of hand."

"Go ahead, consider away. I will be in the VIP room. This whole cloned Ba'al on Earth thing has kept me kinda busy and I haven't slept in 36 hours. I'm going to take a nap and you can decide what to do about this armband thingy."

With that Jack got up and left the conference room. General Landry called Walter in and asked him to show Anise to one of the visitor rooms until Carter had a chance to look over the armbands Anise had brought.

Once he was alone in the VIP room, Jack striped down to his boxer shorts and t-shirt. He was setting the alarm clock to wake him in three hours when Anise suddenly appeared in the room.

"Holy Hannah!" Jack exclaimed. "How did you get in here?"

"I am wearing one of the armbands." She showed Jack her left wrist. Anise dipped her head and Freya said "General, I know that you do not care for Anise. She is only trying to help."

"Well, how does it help with you just appearing in my room while I'm standing here in my underwear?"

"You know, General, I still find you very attractive." Freya closed the distance between them.

"Freya, we went over this almost 5 years ago. Humans aren't that open with their, um...physical relationships." Jack took a step back

"I understand, but we have known each other for a long time and I thought perhaps things were different now."

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Sir?"

"Oh, crap it's Carter! You have to phase out now!" Jack said to Freya.

"But why? It is only Colonel Carter."

"Yeah, well, Colonel Carter just wouldn't understand why you're here and I'm in my underwear! Now just phase yourself out!"

Freya pushed the red button on the bracelet and disappeared from view.

Jack quickly pulled on his pants as Sam knocked again on the door.

"Just a minute, Carter."

He opened the door wearing his pants and a t-shirt. Sam stepped inside and said "I thought I heard voices in here."

"Just the TV. I would like to get some sleep Sam, what did you want?"

"I was just going to tell you to come to my lab and get me when you're ready to go home."

"Ok." He said, but just as he started to usher her out of the room Freya/Anise began to phase in and out of existence. One second they could see her, the next second she seemed transparent and the next second she was invisible again.

"What is going on here?" Sam demanded to know.

Anise was still flickering in and out of existence so Jack answered. "It seems that Freya has a 'thing' for me. She used the phase bracelets to come and see me and then while she was here Anise tried to tell me she is just trying to help us out."

"Freya has a 'thing' for you? How long have you known about this?"

"Um,...ah,...since the Zatarc fiasco."

"Oh fer cryin' out loud!" Sam exclaimed.

Anise finally got the phase shifter to phase her back into the correct dimension. "Colonel Carter, please forgive Freya. I prefer Doctor Jackson, but Freya has always found the General to be stimulating."

Jack closed his eyes and put his hand to his forehead as if he had a massive headache.

"Uh, yeah." Sam began. "Well, as interesting as that may be, you have just proven that the arm bands are unreliable. You phased in and out right before our eyes. We cannot afford to be in a situation that requires us to remain invisible and then suddenly phase back in."

"I'm certain that the bracelets just require calibration." Anise stated.

"Well, if you leave them with us I will have the R&D guys take a look and them and see if we can stabilize the phase shifting effect."

"Very well."

"Now, if you would please leave General O'Neill's room I would really appreciate it." Sam said, willing her voice to remain calm.

"Colonel Carter, I thought that it was against regulations for you and General O'Neill to have feelings for each other, yet you are behaving as if you have a claim on him."

"I do. He's mine. Get out."

Anise looked from Jack to Sam and back to Jack. Jack had what could only be described as a "shit eating grin" on his face. Anise left the room.

"Sweet!" Jack said.


	14. Scenario 14 Rum and Coke

_**Scenario 14**_

_**Rum and Coke**_

A/N: It was never brought up in the show but I think Sam must have had some second thoughts about going back to the SGC. A little angst but resolved in the end.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter wanted to get drunk. Wasted. Blotto. Plastered. Loaded. Smashed.. Beer was **SO** not going to do it. A bottle of Captain Morgan's, a six pack of diet Coke and a couple of limes. _That ought to do the trick_, she thought.

She got out of her car and walked to the kitchen of her apartment with her purchases in a couple of paper bags. She didn't even bother to check her answering machine. Instead she got a glass from the cupboard, put a few ice cubes in it, filled it halfway full with Captain Morgan's rum and the other half with Diet Coke. She added a twist of lime and then downed half of the drink in one swallow.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and downed the other half of the drink. She added 2 more ice cubes to the glass and made another drink, as strong as the first one.

Sam walked into her living room with the glass in her hand, sipping the drink this time instead of downing it in two gulps. She set the drink down on a ceramic coaster that had the Air Force logo on it. The coasters had been a gift from Cassie. Carter plopped down on her couch, did not turn on any lights, but did hit the remote control for the stereo. The radio was set on the light rock channel she preferred and the sounds of Tina Turner singing "What's Love Got to Do With It" came floating into the room.

"Right!" She said out loud . "Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?"

Sam took another long pull on her second rum and coke and found the glass was already half empty. She was starting to feel a little more relaxed, but nowhere near drunk.

Sam Carter could hold her liquor and she figured maybe she would settle for pleasantly buzzed instead of completely smashed. At least she wouldn't end up throwing up if she just got a nice buzz.

She finished off her second drink, eager to start feeling better, and returned to the kitchen to make a third. This time she made the drink slightly weaker and vowed she would savor it instead of chug it like a college student at a kegger.

She was already starting to feel a slight buzz and since she hadn't had anything to eat all day, she figured she should probably have something. Sam looked in her empty refrigerator, then to her empty cupboards. She ate almost all of her meals on base so there wasn't much point in keeping a lot of food around the house. Finally, she pulled a box of Cheerios out of the cupboard and poured them into a large bowl. She began eating them dry, as if they were finger food put out at a party.

Sipping her rum and Coke, Sam went back to her living room, and sat down on the couch. She did not turn on any lights, preferring to sit in the dark and feel depressed.

After she had finished her third rum and Coke and an entire bowl of dry Cheerios, she was in the kitchen making her fourth drink when she finally decided to make the phone call.

She hit "one" on the speed dial.

"O'Neill" The warm baritone voice answered.

"Hi, Jack."

"Hey." he said softly.

"God, I miss you." She sighed.

"Yeah, me too." He paused a couple beats before asking "What's wrong, Sam?"

"I really have mixed feelings about going back to the SGC. I've sold my house, my motorcycle, I don't have any place to live..."

"Why don't you live in my house?"

"Really?"

"Why wouldn't I let you stay there? It only makes sense. You need a place to stay and I'm not having any luck selling the house."

"Right." It came out sounding sarcastic. "So, Sir..."

"Sam, we've been through this. Technically, you're still attached to R&D at Area 51. You're just ...'on loan' to the SGC. It doesn't change our relationship at all. In fact, we should be able to see more of each other, because I have to check up on the SGC a lot more than Area 51."

There was silence on the line.

"Sam? Say something."

"Jack, I'm just worried, that's all."

"Worried about what?"

She blew out a breath. "Oh, nothing, I'm just being stupid."

"Sam, I'm not leaving you, and you going back to the SGC is not going to change anything, except that I'm going to worry about you a lot more."

"It will feel really weird living in your house without you there."

"I'll be there on the weekends as much as I can." He paused for a moment before saying "I love you, Sam. Always. Nothing is going to change that."

"I love you too, Jack."

-x-x-x-


	15. Scenario 15 Cassie

_**Scenario 15**_

_**Cassie**_

A/N: Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews! They have really made me want to continue this series when I was originally only going to write about 5 or 6 scenarios. I have read several POV stories that were really well done and decided I wanted to try to write one. This is from Cassie's POV.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I was really excited when Sam got transferred to Area 51. Since I'm going to school at UNLV it meant I got to see her a lot. She had only been in Nevada a few months though, when she got sent back to the SGC. Bummer for me.

So, anyway, one of the cool things about going to school in Las Vegas is that you can always get cheap airfares here. I had a long weekend and found a really cheap flight on the internet and decided to go home and see Sam. I know she was kind of disappointed when they sent her back to the SGC and I missed having her around. Anyway, I was just going to surprise her so I never called to tell her I was coming to Colorado Springs. I did call Daniel to make sure SG1 wasn't going to be off world, but I made him promise not to tell Sam I was flying in for the weekend.

My flight got into Denver around 10 PM and I had a friend of mine from high school pick me at the airport. By the time I got my luggage, got out of Denver and got to Sam's place it was almost midnight. There were no lights on in her house, but her car was there so I figured I would just use my key to let myself in. I didn't want to wake her; Heaven knows she doesn't get enough sleep as it is.

Well, I let myself into the house and turned on a small lamp in the living room so that I could find my way to the guest room without tripping over something. I started down the hall to the spare bedroom and stopped dead in my tracks as I passed Sam's room. She wasn't alone in her bed!

It was dark and all I could make out were two shapes in the bed. My first thought was 'oh crap! What if she got back together with that loser Pete!' Then I thought, 'well, what if she just felt sorry for him and this was just like a sympathy... Crap! Sam wouldn't do that! Would she?'

I dropped my bag in the hall and just stared into the room trying to decide who she was with and what I should do about it. Finally I decided that if it was Pete, the least I could do would be to make the guy's life miserable and hopefully show Sam the error of her ways.

I bounded into the room, flipped on the light switch and shouted "Surprise! Sam!" Then stood there pretending I shocked that she wasn't alone.

"What the hell?" "What's going on here!"

They both bolted up in bed like I was a goa'uld or something, and oh, my god, Sam was sleeping with Jack! When I saw that it was Jack in bed with Sam I nearly screamed. Uh, maybe I did scream. Anyway, I like launched myself at the bed and jumped in between them. Now before you go thinking this is something gross, Jack was wearing a t-shirt and boxers and Sam was wearing some pajama thing that had like a camisole top with spaghetti straps and silky boxer kind of shorts. AND they were **_asleep_** when I found them.

Back to my story. So I jumped on the bed between them and hugged both of their necks at the same time and starting blathering on about how great this was and that I had been hoping they would get together since I was 10 years old!

Sam said "Cassie, slow down! First of all, what are you doing here?"

"I got a cheap flight and I wanted to surprise you. I didn't know I would be the one getting the surprise! So, how long has this been going on?"

Jack and Sam looked at each other, Jack shrugged and said "We might as well tell her." Then he looked at me and said "Sam and I have been together since shortly after Sam's dad died."

So now I was feeling kinda hurt because they didn't tell me so I said "Well, how come you kept this a big secret from me?"

"Cassie, we're trying to keep our relationship private. It's not against the rules anymore, uh, exactly, but it still isn't really sanctioned either."

"Yeah, but you guys could of told me!" I did sound kind of whiney when I said that.

"I guess we should have, Cassie." Jack said.

That made me feel better so I told him "Its ok, Jack I'm just happy you two are together for real now. You know when I was kid I used to play Sam and Jack with my Barbie and Ken."

"What!" Sam croaked.

"Well, yeah, until there was that unfortunate incident when Sam/Barbie and Jack/Ken got stuck together with super glue."

Sam looked mortified so I quickly added "Get your mind out of the gutter, Sam, it wasn't like that! I was only 10 you know! I tried to get them to kiss and it wasn't working very well so I super glued their lips together."

"So how'd that work out?" Jack asked and then gave Sam a funny look.

"Well, when I pulled them apart, part of Sam/Barbie's lips were still stuck to Jack/Ken's face. Mom was kinda mad when I told her I needed a new Barbie and Ken. You know I even had Air Force outfits for them!"

"So, did Janet know that you played Sam/Barbie and Jack/Ken?" Sam asked

"Everyone knew! Teal'c even played Sam/Barbie, Jack/Ken with me a couple times. He was Jack/Ken and I was Sam/Barbie." I figured I would clarify that one for them.

They looked at me with this weird look in their eyes and I just knew they were visualizing Teal'c playing Jack/Ken.

"So, um, what kind of scenario did you play with Teal'c?" Jack asked.

"Oh, you know. Sam and Jack go through the stargate, Jack gets hurt and Sam nurses him back to health."

They really exchanged glances on that one and I could tell they were getting weirded out with the whole Sam/Barbie and Jack/Ken thing.

"So, you guys want to get up and watch a movie?"

"Cassie, it's after midnight!" Sam said in her most 'I'm **_SO_** not in college anymore' voice. But Jack said "Give me a minute to put on some sweat pants and I'll come out there and watch a couple episodes of the Simpsons with you."

Sam smiled at him and I was like "Cool, I get quality time with Jack!"

So, anyway, that's how I found out that Sam and Jack were finally together and I know what you're going to say. You're thinking 'They're old! Doesn't it creep you out to know they're like, you know, sleeping together' but, it's not like that. They are really special people to me and they deserve to be happy and they deserve to be together!

-x-x-x-


	16. Chapter 16

_**Scenario 16**_

Samantha Carter sat down at the table in the commissary beside Colonel Mitchell and across from Daniel and Teal'c. "Good morning." She said as the rest of the team mumbled their greetings to her.

"So, any news about where Ba'al might be hiding out?" Daniel asked.

"The NID is looking into it but nothing yet." Sam said as she brought a spoonful of Cherrios to her mouth.

"How are things with Garik and the Free Jaffa?" Mitchell asked Teal'c.

"Not well."

"Ok, then. Sounds like a typical Monday morning." Said Cameron cheerily.

Sam reached for the sugar with her left hand and Daniel Jackson stopped his spoon in mid air on its way to his mouth. "Ah, Sam? Did you and Pete get back together?"

"**No**! Why would you ask **_that_**?"

Daniel pointed at her left hand, pursed his lip together and said "um..."

Sam blushed. "Oh." and quickly pulled her left hand into her lap.

"Daniel Jackson, I believe that Colonel Carter and General O'Neill have gotten engaged."

Sam truly felt uncomfortable with this conversation and took great interest in her Cheerios.

"Sam, is it true?" Asked Daniel.

She looked up sheepishly but could not hide the 100 watt smile on her face. "Yes."

"Let me see that rock!" Cameron said as he pulled her left hand from her lap. "Wow! Of course, when you're a General I guess you can afford something like that!"

"So, when did this happen?" Daniel asked enthusiastically.

"Saturday."

"So, I never pictured O'Neill as the romantic, pop the question, buy the ring kinda guy." Cameron looked at Carter.

"Indeed." agreed Teal'c.

"Have you set a date yet?" asked Daniel.

"Daniel, we just got engaged Saturday night. No, we haven't."

"So, are you going to be Colonel O'Neill?"

"Oh, god, no! That would just be too weird!"

"Have you informed Cassandra Fraiser of your engagement?" Teal'c inquired.

"Um, no, not yet."

"You must do so as soon as possible."

"Teal'c is right. She's been campaigning for you two to get together for **_years_**!"

"Uh, I feel a little out of the loop here guys..." Cameron stated.

"Oh, well, its just that Sam and Jack have had a thing for years and its been driving the rest of us crazy."

"Daniel! What do you mean we've had a 'thing' for years?"

"Oh, come on Sam, you don't think Teal'c, General Hammond, Janet and I didn't know how you and Jack felt about each other? Come on!"

"But, we were always so professional..."

"Yes, you were. It was painful to watch. That's why we're all so happy for you!"

"Really?"

"Really!" Daniel got up from the table and pulled Sam up by her hands, giving her a big, brotherly hug. "I am so happy for you, Sam."

When he released her Teal'c, who was not much for touching, wrapped her in a tight hug. "As am I, Samantha." He said softly.

"Well, I don't want to be the odd man out." Stated Cameron Mitchell, who also gave her a hug when Teal'c released her.

"Thank you guys!" Teal'c bowed, Daniel patted her on the shoulder and Cameron gave her a friendly punch on the other shoulder.

SG1 was her family and Sam was truly happy.

-x-x-x-


	17. Chapter 17

_**Scenario 17**_

A/N: Flatkatsi warned me that fanfiction no longer allows song lyrics on the sight and if they find them they will delete the entire story - so I have removed the song lyrics and you can find them easily on the internet if you are interested.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Samantha Carter was working in her lab when an SF knocked on her door. Ma'am this envelope was in today's mail for you. He handed Sam a small brown envelope and quickly left her lab.

Sam looked at the handwritten address and smiled to herself. She opened the envelope and took out a CD that had the words "True by Ryan Cabrera" written on it by the same hand that addressed the envelope. She put the CD in her labtop and clicked on the media player.

As the song began to play she looked in the envelope again and found a small handwritten note:

_**Sam,**_

_**I've waited all my life to cross this line, **_

_**To the only thing that's true.**_

_**It's time to try anything to be with you**_

_**This is true.**_

_**Love, Jack**_

-x-x-x-


	18. Chapter 18

_**Scenario 18**_

"No, it's **you** who doesn't understand." General Landry nearly shouted into the phone. Then he covered the mouthpiece with his hand and called out "Chief, get Colonel Carter in here NOW!"

Walter nodded and hurried off to call the Colonel.

Three minutes later General Landry was still on the phone and Sam Carter was knocking on his open office door. The General frantically waved her into his office. As she stepped inside he held out the phone for her and said "Will you please talk some sense into your **_boyfriend_**!"

Sam grinned and took the phone from the General. "Jack?" She said into the receiver. After a short pause she said "This mission is really important. We're trying to form an allegiance with the Sodan Jaffa against the Ori and if we back out of this mission they will never trust us."

"Sam, I'm not trying to get the SG teams to back out of the mission I just don't see why **_you_** need to go."

"The Sodan have this invisibility device that aligns itself with the individual wearer's DNA. I have backward engineered them so they will work for all of SG1 and 2, but the devices were invented by the Ancients and they used some type of power source I've never seen before. I used naquada for ours and it is a bit unstable for this purpose. The bottom line is, if anything goes wrong with the devices I'm the only one who can fix them."

"Dammit, Sam! You just have to stop being so indispensable!"

"So, I can go, right?"

"Yes." Jack replied reluctantly.

"Ok, you better tell that to General Landry."

She was about to hand the phone back to the General when Jack said "Sam, be careful."

"I will." She promised. She wanted to say more, but instead handed the phone to General Landry who nodded to her that she was dismissed. Sam left the office.

"Jack?" The General said.

"Yeah, Hank. She can go." Jack sounded defeated.

"Look, Jack, I can't keep calling you for permission to send Colonel Carter on a mission!"

"Hank, I thought the reason that we have Marines is to send them out to be shot at instead of sending the Air Force's most brilliant scientist."

"Right. But sometimes she's the only one who's going to be able to pull everyone's ass out of the fire."

"Did I mention that she's also the Air Force's most beautiful scientist? And I don't want her getting her ass shot off! It's a really nice ass."

"Jack, too much information."

"Right."

"So, you're really doing this 'Carter can't go on the mission' routine to harass me, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Ok, then. Always a pleasure, Jack."

"You bet, Hank."

-x-x-x-


	19. Chapter 19

_**Scenario 19**_

A/N: What if The Powers That Be haven't been throwing us shippers a bone with the few little hints they've dropped regarding Sam and Jack, but instead they are throwing us a curve ball? Maybe I'm putting two and two together and getting five, or maybe not. Read on to see what I mean.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had been just over two weeks since Jacob Carter's funeral and Jack was worried about Sam. She was spending a lot of time on base and, he thought, working too much to avoid grieving the loss of her father. Jack walked down to her lab to check on her and stopped as he approached her door. She was sitting at her work bench doing nothing, her elbows resting on the bench and her head in her hands.

Jack started to walk away and leave her alone when she said in a small voice "Don't go."

He came into the lab and sat down on the empty stool beside Sam. They sat in silence for a time before Sam quietly said "I broke up with Pete."

"Oh, sorry to hear that." Jack said, distracted.

"You are?" She sounded hurt and disappointed.

"You did?" There was enthusiasm and excitement in his voice as he just realized what she had said.

"Yeah."

There was a moment's pause before Jack said "Kerry dumped me you know."

"She did?"

"She said I had **_issues_**."

"She said **_that_**?" Sam said in a tone of voice that said 'How **_dare_** she say that to you?'.

"Well, she said that I had one big issue that she just couldn't live with."

"What was that?" Sam asked.

"You."

Her mouth made an "O" but she didn't say anything. Finally Jack asked "So why did you break up with Pete?" Trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

"Well, you can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else." Sam replied.

Now it was Jack's turn to be surprised.

They sat in silence for a time, beginning to feel awkward with their confessions, before Jack said "So..."

"Uh, yeah, I should get back to work." Sam said, feeling very self conscious.

"Um, yeah, me too." Jack got up and left Sam alone in her lab.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next morning Sam knocked on the door to Jack's office. He motioned for her come in and noticed a big, happy smile on her face. "Carter?" He questioned.

Sam said nothing but handed him a neatly filled out form. The General took the paper from her, looked at the form, looked up at Sam, and then back at the form again. "You're requesting a transfer to Area 51 to head up research and development?" He was astounded

She smiled patiently at him and said "The replicators have been destroyed, the System Lords have been defeated, I feel that I could make more of a contribution working with research and development." She waited just a second before saying "If I'm transferred to R & D I won't be in your chain of command, **_Sir_**."

He looked at her for just a beat, his mouth hanging open and then as fast as he could pick up a pen signed the request. "Colonel, I will personally expedite this request up the chain of command." He said.

"Thank you, Sir." She said with a smile and left his office.

Three days later Jack got Sam's request for transfer back, approved. It was incredibly difficult for him, but he kept the secret from her all day. That evening he showed up on her doorstep at 1900 with a bottle of champaign in one had and her orders transferring her to Area 51 in the other.

When Sam opened the door Jack held up the bottle of champaign and said "I thought you might want to celebrate, your request for transfer has been approved."

Samantha Carter stood in her doorway staring at Jack O'Neill with her mouth hanging open for a moment before she recovered and asked him to come in.

Sam went to the kitchen and got two champaign flutes out of the cupboard while Jack opened the bottle with a characteristic 'pop'. He poured two generous glasses of the bubbly and then handed one of them to her.

Sam had taken just a couple sips of the sparkling drink when Jack closed the space between them, took the glass from her hand and set it down on the counter. He looked at her for an instant and then took her face in his hands and kissed her. After a moment he pulled away and looked into her deep, blue eyes, as if to say 'Is this ok?'. Sam waited only a second before she took Jack's face in her hands and kissed him. This time they didn't pull away from each other but began exploring each other with their hands, lips, tongues. Within minutes both of their shirts were laying in a heap on the kitchen floor.

Sam broke away from the kiss and looked into Jack's deep brown eyes. She held out her hand to him, he took it and she led him to the bedroom.

The next day, when they finally got around to talking about Sam's orders, she said "So I report to Area 51 in five weeks. I guess that gives me 4 weeks here to pack, finish up a couple projects in my lab, get out of the lease on the house and then a week in Nevada to find a place to live near Nellis and get settled in."

"I have a better plan." Jack replied "How about 3 weeks to pack, one week of leave at my cabin and one week to find a place to live in Nevada?"

"You're asking me to going fishing, Jack?"

"I am."

"Ok." She replied. "But how 'bout if you and I spend a few days alone there and then have Teal'c and Daniel join us on the weekend. It would be nice to have some time with them before Teal'c goes back to Dakara."

"It sounds like a plan to me!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After the fishing trip to Minnesota, Jack went to Nevada with Sam to help her find an apartment and get moved in.

During Samantha Carter's first month at Area 51 neither she nor Jack had been able to take any time off to see each other so they kept up their long distance relationship with phone calls and e-mails.

Jack finally felt he could take a weekend off and was making plans to go to Nevada when he received a phone call from General Hammond.

"Hi, Jack, this is George." He began

"Hey, George, what's up?" Jack asked, happy to talk to his old friend.

"Listen, Jack I'm going to get right to the point. Now, you didn't hear this from me, but the President wants you to take over as the Head of Homeworld Security. In fact, Colonel Davis will be hand delivering your orders to you on Monday."

"Uh, George are you retiring?"

"No, I'm actually going to Atlantis on the Daedalus. But, Jack that's not the issue here. I know that you and Sam are finally dating and I'm very happy for both of you. The problem is, that when you take over as Head of Homeworld Security, Sam will be in your chain of command again."

There was silence on the line as General Hammond's words sunk in.

"Jack? Listen, no one knows that I called to give you advance warning, but if you're going to do something you need to do it **_before_** you take over as Head of Homeworld Security. Today is Tuesday. That gives you six days, Jack."

"Uh, yeah... I don't suppose the President will take 'no' for an answer on this thing will he?"

"Not a chance, Jack." There was a pause as General Hammond tried to figure out just how much to tell O'Neill. "Listen Son, you've got this weekend and remember, you haven't talked to me. So on Monday what's done is done and well,... you and Sam are just going to have to figure it out for yourselves. If you need **_anything_** don't hesitate to call."

"Right. Thanks, George." Jack said distractedly.

Jack hung up the phone, scrubbed a hand across his face and blew out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He sat at his desk staring out the window to the conference room for what seemed like an eternity.

By the time Friday rolled around, Jack had figured out General Hammond's hint and had his plan in place. He was taking a commercial flight to Las Vegas and Sam would pick him up at McCarran International Airport.

Jack's flight got in at 1815 and Sam was standing there waiting for him when he cleared the jet way. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he scooped her into his arms and gave her a kiss.

"God, it feels good to be able to do that in public and not worry about rules." Jack said as he released Sam from his embrace.

"I am so glad to see you Jack." Sam said as she wrapped her arm around his waist and they headed for the parking garage. Jack told her that he had made dinner reservations for them at an intimate restaurant in the Bellagio.

They arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early but were soon seated at a secluded table with a fantastic view of the lighted fountains. Sam had noticed shortly after he arrived that Jack was feeling uneasy and she was afraid something was terribly wrong. It was almost as if they had slipped back into their roles as CO and 2IC. Sam had an overwhelming feeling that she should be calling him 'Sir'.

After they had ordered their food Sam leaned forward slightly and in a soft voice asked "Jack, what's wrong?"

Jack blew out a breath, looked out the window and finally looked back at Sam. "George called me a couple days ago."

Sam looked really worried. "Oh, my god, is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He called to give me a heads up. Monday Colonel Davis is hand delivering orders to me." He paused and looked deep into her blue eyes. "They're making me the Head of Homeworld Security." He sounded dejected.

Sam's eyes got wide and she just looked at him for a moment. Then suddenly she felt tears burning in her eyes. She fought hard not to let them fall and looked out the window at the colored lights playing on the water streams coming from the fountains. Finally she closed her eyes tightly and said in a voice so soft he almost didn't hear "I'll be in your chain of command again." She paused "Sir."

"Yes." He said gently. "Sam?"

She couldn't look at him. She was afraid she would break down and cry this time. A Carter doesn't cry.

"Sam." He reached across the table and took her hand in his. "Look at me."

She gathered all of her strength, opened her eyes and looked into his deep, dark, beautiful eyes. Jack could almost feel the pain it caused her to look at him.

"Sam, I will have a few weeks before I have to report to Washington."

She just looked at him. "So, we have a few weeks and then ...what? Colonel and General again?"

"Not necessarily." He said with a slight smirk on his face. "As long as I'm not your CO, there are no regulations preventing us from...dating."

"So?" There was more sarcasm in her voice than she had intended.

He searched her face, looked deep into her eyes, took both her hands in his and said "Sam, marry me."

"What?" she was astounded.

"Marry me while there are no regulations preventing it."

"But..."

"If I tell the President 'Carter and I got married while she wasn't in my chain of command' what's he going to do? What's done is done and if he wants us both as much as we know he does he has no choice but to say 'ok'."

Sam was stunned by Jack's logic. "Did you think this up all by yourself?" she asked.

"Pretty much. George gave me a tiny hint but, yeah, it was my idea."

She smiled at him. God she loved him.

He raised his eyebrows and said "So, Samantha Carter, will you marry me?"

"Yasureyoubetcha!"

"Sweet."

"Just one thing Jack, I refuse to be married by Elvis."

"Ok. Well, how about if Homer Simpson does the officiating?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes. Then the realization dawned on her. She said, almost frantically, "Jack, if you're getting orders on Monday we have to get married this weekend!"

"Sam, this is Las Vegas. We can get married in half an hour here. I've already invited George, Daniel, Teal'c and Cassie."

"Pretty confident I would say yes, huh?" She smiled.

"Well, George and Thor are the only ones who know why they're coming here."

"You invited **_Thor_** to our wedding?"

"Well, just the reception. I didn't know how we would explain him anywhere in public."

Sam nodded and smiled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next day Sam and Jack were married in a romantic little chapel in Las Vegas. General Hammond gave the bride away, Daniel Jackson was the best man and Cassandra Fraiser was the maid of honor. Teal'c served as their witness.

After the ceremony they had a little get together with everyone at Sam's apartment. Shortly after the wedding party arrived at the apartment, Thor beamed in.

"Thor! Good buddy! I'm glad you could make it. Sorry about you not being able to come to the wedding."

"It is quite alright O'Neill." Thor replied "I have a wedding gift for you. It is what you requested."

Jack smiled "Let Sam open it." He said.

Sam took the lunch box size black box from Thor and opened it. Inside were two Asgard transportation stones.

"Wow! These look like the stones in the obelisk on Cimmeria. that transported Daniel and me to the Hall of Thor's Might and back."

"You are correct, Colonel Carter. O'Neill explained to me the difficulty you face with the primitive transportation on your planet and asked if I would give you two of these transport devices. You can place one device in your quarters here and O'Neill can place the other device in his quarters in Washington. When you touch the stone here Colonel Carter, you will be transported to wherever O'Neill has placed his device and vice versa."

"Thor! That's fantastic! Thank you so much." Sam couldn't help herself. She had to give the little guy a gentle hug.

"You are most welcome. I must go now. Congratulations."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sam and Jack decided not to hide their marriage **_exactly_**, but telling people was only on a need to know basis. She was in his chain of command and explanations could get to be a bit tricky.

Since a car was one of the perks that came with Jack's job he decided he didn't need his truck in Washington, but he really didn't want to part with it either. Sam suggested that she sell her car and motorcycle and she would drive his truck.

Jack sat outside General Landry's home as the two of them played a game of chess.

"So did you decide to go with the desk at an angle or flush with the door?" Jack asked.

"Is that what this is about? You come all the way to Colorado Springs to check up on me?"

"Nah…I had to sign the papers to my house…and my car…my motorcycle..." Jack didn't elaborate about who's car or motorcycle he was selling and Landry never knew that Jack was selling his **_wife's_** car and motorcycle.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A few weeks later Hank Landry needed the help of one Colonel Samantha Carter so he got on the phone to talk to his boss, General Jack O'Neill. Jack had been unexplainably reluctant to allow Carter to help out SG1. Landry was making his third try at talking General O'Neill into letting Colonel Carter work with the SGC on an attempt to stop the Ori.

"Jack…Jack…Jack! She practically invented the Mark 9 and you're the one who thinks we should use the damn thing! Why are you wasting valuable time saying no?"

"Because I can."

"I've read enough of your SG-1 mission reports to know that there were times when no one else **_but_** Samantha Carter could have pulled your ass out of the fire. Well, this is one of those times!"

Hank Landry felt someone's presence and turned toward the door.

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was standing there in dress blues. "Reporting as ordered sir."

On the phone Jack said to the General "So, Hank, do you have a gorgeous blonde in your office right now?"

"Yeah…she's standing right here. You're a funny man Jack."

Sam grinned at the thought that her **_husband_** was giving General Landry a rough time about her being sent on a mission with SG1.

"Very funny." Hank Landry said into the phone.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A few days later, when it was discovered that Ba'al was living on Earth, Carter was sent on a stakeout with Daniel Jackson and Agent Barrett of the NID.

After Daniel left the surveillance truck Agent Barrett felt nervous and awkward being alone with Colonel Samantha Carter. He had been attracted to her since the first time they worked together when **_then_** Colonel O'Neill had been framed for the murder of Senator Kinsey.

Agent Barrett attempted to break the tension. " How've you been?" he asked.

"Pretty Good. You?"

"Pretty good. Can't complain." _Boy, this is a lame conversation he thought_. " What's new?" he asked.

"Ah let's see...I was leading R&D for awhile there."

"Well, I never figured you the type to settle for a desk job."

"I needed something with more flexible hours. Janet's adopted daughter Cassie was going through a hard time."

"Oh, I see."

"I spent some time on the Prometheus away on deep space reconnaissance. Oh! I helped stop a dangerous new enemy from getting a foothold in the galaxy."

"Yes! I heard about that." Agent Barrett had noticed from the first moment Sam entered the van that she was not wearing a ring. He was hopeful that Pete was out of the picture and figured by now there had been enough small talk that he could bring up the subject. "How's Pete?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"We broke up."

"Really." Barrett could not help the tiny smile that flitted across his face and the hope in his heart that he could have a chance with the beautiful Samantha Carter. He quickly recovered and said "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It was the best thing for both of us."

Was it too early to believe that maybe he could get a date with Sam? "So you're single again?" He said with hope in his voice and a smile on his face.

"Not exactly." She looked around evasively, smiled, and hoped he wouldn't press her for more details.

"Not exactly? What does that mean?" Agent Barrett pushed on.

Sam closed her eyes and pressed her lips together trying to figure out what she should tell him. Finally she decided on the truth. "I'm married."

"Oh." Agent Barrett's face fell. As long as she wasn't married he had a chance, but now...

Finally he said "But you kept your maiden name?"

"Yeah. Professional reasons."

"So, who did you marry? Anyone I know?"

"I don't think you've ever met him." She answered truthfully. Sure, he damn well knew **_who_** General Jack O'Neill was, but Jack was in jail when Sam and Agent Barrett worked to prove that it was members of the NID who were responsible for the assassination attempt on Kinsey, not Jack.

"Oh. Is he a civilian then?"

"Agent Barrett, I think we need to focus on the problem at hand. Ba'al? A naquada bomb?"

"Oh, yeah, right." He replied sheepishly.

Barrett studied her for a moment. "Well, I'm glad for you. You seem really happy."

"I am." She said, this time with a full blown, patented, Samantha Carter smile. This time she knew it was the truth, she really was happy. "Thank you, Dad." She whispered.

-x-x-x-


	20. Chapter 20 Ba'al

Scenario 20

Ba'al, Ba'al, Ba'al, Ba'al

A/N: Thanks again to SeedC for the suggestion for this scenario and to my beta, Nettripper.

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"Unauthorized off world activation!" Boomed through Cheyenne Mountain as klaxons blared and red lights flashed.

"SG1 report to the gateroom immediately!"

Mitchell, Jackson Teal'c and Carter quickly arrived in the gateroom and were greeted by four holographic Ba'als standing on the ramp to the stargate in front of the closed iris. Each Ba'al was dressed differently. The lead Ba'al was dressed in his normal Goa'uld robes, another was dressed in a tailored, three piece, grey business suit, the third Ba'al was wearing Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian print shirt and sandals. The fourth Ba'al was wearing a T-shirt printed with the slogan "I'm with stupid" and an arrow pointing to the right. He was also wearing jeans and tennis shoes.

The Ba'al dressed in his normal Goa'uld robes spoke. "What? No General O'Neill? I was so looking forward to seeing him again."

"My name is General Landry. I'm the leader of this facility." The General spoke with authority.

"Yes, yes, how very nice for you." The original Ba'al said.

"So, what is it you want?" Colonel Carter asked in an acerbic tone.

"I was very disappointed when you discovered my little bomb, Colonel. I should have known you would be clever enough to figure a way to save your people from its effects. Next time I will not plan my destruction on such a small scale."

"Yeah, yeah," Mitchell said. "Just tell us why you're here."

"Who is this?" Ba'al asked.

"Oh, sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell." He waved at the Ba'als.

Ba'al ignored Mitchell's introduction and instead turned to the Jaffa. "Teal'c, your 'free Jaffa' captured one of my clones. I was not pleased. However, they mistakenly believe that they captured and killed **_me_**."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.

Ba'al looked around at the group and announced "I came here to propose a collaboration, however, I will only negotiate with O'Neill. Get him here. I will return in one hour."

"We don't have the ability to get General O'Neill from Washington to Colorado in one hour." General Landry stated. 

Ba'al looked at him for a moment and said "Do not attempt to play me for a fool General. I know that you possess Asgard beaming technology. You have one hour." With that the four holographic Ba'als disappeared.

"Well, now what?" asked Mitchell.

"We get Jack here." Said Daniel as if it were incredibly simple.

General Landry went directly to his office to call General O'Neill and 50 minutes later the Head of Homeworld Security was seated in the briefing room with General Landry and SG1.

Exactly one hour after Ba'al had given General Landry his ultimatum, he reappeared in the gateroom with his 3 clones in tow.

SG1, General Landry and General O'Neill were all in the gateroom waiting when the Ba'als appeared.

The Ba'al standing to the far left was the one wearing the "I'm with stupid" t-shirt. Next to him was the one in the Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts, next to him was the Ba'al everyone assumed to be the original, dressed in his normal robes. On the far right was the Ba'al dressed in the impeccably tailored business suit.

Jack took a step forward and looked at the group of Ba'als. "Ok, look, this is too confusing, so, to keep you all straight, I'm going to have to come up with nicknames for you." He looked at the one on the left wearing the t-shirt "So, you're Wiffle Ba'al, the one in the Hawaiian shirt is Beach Ba'al, you're Boccie Ba'al, and the suit is Ping Pong Ba'al."

"It is always a pleasure to see you O'Neill." The original Ba'al spoke. "I also understand congratulations are in order."

"Thanks, but a promotion to Washington isn't all it's cracked up to be."

The Ba'al in the suit spoke. "We were not speaking of your military promotion."

Jack turned and looked at the end Ba'al. "Ping? I thought only Boccie was allowed to speak."

The original Ba'al took over. "We were speaking of your recent marriage, O'Neill."

Teal'c and Daniel were the only ones at the SGC who knew that Sam and Jack had gotten married just after she transferred to Area 51 and before he was sent to Washington. Sam and Jack were skating on thin ice, but they **_had_** gotten married while Sam was **_not_** in Jack's chain of command.

Daniel looked at his shoes and said nothing while Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow. Sam and Jack instantly plastered on the same faces they used when they told people they worked in deep space radar telemetry.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" boomed General Landry.

"You think General O'Neill is a newly wed?" asked an incredulous Colonel Mitchell.

"I learned a lot while I was on your planet." Ba'al looked at General Landry. "It is not surprising that you do not know of O'Neill's nuptials since your military regulations forbid his relationship."

"What?" Landry nearly shouted.

"He's married to Colonel Carter." Ba'al gloated.

Mitchell and Landry turned simultaneously to look at Jack and Sam. They noticed that Teal'c had plastered an impassive look on his face, Daniel had suddenly found his shoes to be very interesting, Sam was starting to blush and Jack looked like he didn't understand a word Ba'al had said.

"You know, I'm hungry. Could we get on with the real reason you're here?" Jack asked.

"Very well. We know that the Ori have taken an interest in Earth. We have grown rather fond of your quaint, albeit primitive, planet and we would like to offer our services to help you fight off the Ori."

"And what is it you want in return?" The question came from Jack.

"You merely allow us to live out our lives on Earth without hunting us down and with no intervention." This comment came from the Ba'al wearing the grey business suit.

Jack turned to look at him and said "Sorry, Ping, no deal."

"You will regret your decision!" Said the Ba'al in the t-shirt.

"I don't think so, Wiffle. Now, if you don't mind, I'm needed back in Washington. Always a pleasure guys!"

As the holographic Ba'als disappeared General Landry said "I want to see all of you in the conference room." and he led the group out of the gateroom.

Colonel Mitchell waited for General O'Neill and then said to him "So, you and **_Sam_**?"

Jack made no reply.

Once everyone was seated in the conference room General Landry asked "So, what is the threat assessment?"

"I'd say it's very high, Sir. Ba'al doesn't have the use of a stargate on Earth, but it's obvious that he has a ship and is able to come and go at will. He has also learned a lot about Earth and the SGC while he was here. For example, he knew that we possess Asgard beaming technology."

Daniel jumped into the conversation "We only saw four Ba'als and we don't even know if **_any _**of them were the original. Since losing his Jaffa, he is basically creating an army of Ba'als which is a much greater threat than an army of Jaffa. No, offense Teal'c."

"None taken. I concur with your assessment Daniel Jackson."

"Recommendations?" Asked Landry.

Everyone looked around the table at each other before Jack suggested "Ear tags?" When everyone looked confused he added "Like cattle! You know."

"Actually, Sir, it's not a bad idea. I don't know exactly how we would implement it, but we could implant tiny transponders into every Ba'al clone that would alert us every time they're on Earth and would give us their exact location using GPS."

"Well," Mitchell began "We have the address where Ba'al's transmission was originating from, we could contact him and say we have reconsidered his offer and say we want to meet on a neutral planet with all his clones. Then we could use tranquilizer darts to knock them out and put in our implants."

"A catch and release program." Jack said, pleased with himself.

"It's a bit far fetched don't you think?" Asked Daniel.

"There is no way we could be certain we have tagged all of the clones either." Stated Teal'c.

"Alright people try to come up with some viable ideas for me in 24 hours. Dismissed." Landry stated. As everyone was leaving the conference room he said to O'Neill "Jack, can I see you in my office?"

Jack put a confused look on his face, shrugged and followed Landry into the office.

When they were alone General Landry said "So, Jack, you and Carter? That's why she went to Area 51 in the first place and why you were so reluctant to let her come back here."

"Look, Hank, she doesn't want anyone to think she's getting preferential treatment, or to think she **_slept_** her way to the top. The President knows, but no one else needs to know. If Carter can't convince Mitchell that Ba'al was just making some crap up, you have to tell him that he can't tell anyone about us any more than he can tell anyone about the stargate."

"Ok, Jack. I'm just a little disappointed that you felt you couldn't tell me."

"Need to know, Hank."

General Landry nodded his head in understanding.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go talk to my wife before I go back to Washington."

"Just one more thing, Jack. The Prometheus is **_not_** in orbit around Earth. How did you get here in under an hour?"

Jack grinned "Wedding gift from Thor."

-x-x-x-


	21. Chapter 21

Scenario 21

A/N: Sorry I haven't written anything in awhile, real life has kept me too busy. This is another scenario in which General Landry and Colonel Mitchell find out that Sam and Jack are married.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

General Hank Landry had been in charge of the SGC for almost 6 months and, while he had to hit the ground running taking over as the CO of the SGC, he felt it was time to get to know his key personnel better. So, at 7:30 PM on a Friday night he was standing on the doorstep of one Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. He had rung the doorbell twice and was getting ready to punch the button a third time when the door was opened by General Jack O'Neill.

Hank Landry was quite surprised to find Jack O'Neill opening the door to Sam's house, but even more surprised by his appearance. Jack was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and only socks on his feet. Hank immediately thought the man looked completely 'at home' in Sam's house.

"Uh, Jack. What are you doing here? I thought you were in Washington." Landry stated.

"What are you doing here?" Jack replied. "We thought you were the pizza delivery guy."

Just then, from somewhere in the house Hank heard Sam's voice. "Jack, is that the pizza delivery guy?"

"Um, no, it's General Landry."

Suddenly Sam appeared beside Jack. She, too, was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "Sir," she said, addressing the General, "Is something wrong?" There was concern in her voice.

"Uh, no." replied Landry, "I just thought it would be nice to check up on some of my key personnel and see how you are doing." He finished lamely.

"Well, Hank, come on in. We have enough pizza and beer to share." Jack said as he opened the door wide.

Hank Landry entered the house and was immediately struck by the fact that this house didn't look like Jack just visited on weekends, but that he lived there.

"Can I get you a beer Hank?" Jack asked.

"Uh, sure. That would be great." Landry replied.

Just then the doorbell rang again and Sam said "That must be the pizza." and she went to answer the door.

Hank Landry found himself alone in the living room and began looking around. There were some photos on the fireplace mantle, so he walked over to look at them. There was one of Jack and a young boy who Hank figured must have been Charlie. There was another of Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Daniel and a young woman he didn't recognize, but he thought it might be Cassandra Fraiser. The photo that really caught his attention though, was one of Sam and Jack. Jack was wearing his uniform and Sam was wearing a pale blue dress. Jack had both his arms wrapped around Sam and the joy on their faces was unmistakable. It was obviously a wedding photo.

Just then Sam came back into the room carrying two pizza boxes. "I hope you like pepperoni with extra cheese." She said.

"Yeah, fine." The General replied.

Jack came into the room with three beers, some paper plates and napkins. He handed one of the beers to General Landry and said "Have a seat, Hank."

The throughly confused Landry took the beer and sat down in an easy chair close to the fireplace.

Sam put the pizza down on the coffee table and opened the box. She put two slices on a paper plate and handed them to the General. She put two slices on a second plate and handed it to Jack, then took one slice for herself.

Sam and Jack sat down beside each other on the sofa and Jack put their beers down on the coffee table.

The dumbfounded General Landry looked on, speechless.

"So, I guess you've figured out by now that Carter and I are married." Jack began.

"Yeah, I sorta figured that out, Jack. But..."

"We got married while I was at Area 51 and Jack was still in charge of the SGC." Sam explained.

"Oh." There was a pause. "So, why didn't you tell me, Jack?"

"Need to know, Hank."

"Ok. So, just one more question. How do you commute back and forth from Washington to Colorado Springs?"

"Thor gave us two Asgard transportation devices as a wedding present." Sam stated.

Just then the doorbell rang again.

Jack held up one finger. "That would be Daniel and Teal'c" he said and he went to answer the door.

Daniel and Teal'c entered with Colonel Cameron Mitchell.

Daniel said "Cameron, I believe you know Sam's husband, General Jack O'Neill."

Cameron stood there with his mouth hanging open and finally managed to strangle out "Sam's husband?"

Just then General Landry appeared in the entry way. "Yes, Colonel, it appears that Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill have finally decided that you and I are on the 'need to know' list."

"Wow." Replied Mitchell.

Samantha Carter appeared behind Jack. "Sam, we brought Chinese." Daniel said.

"Great! Come on in." Sam said. Then she turned to General O'Neill and said "Jack, would you get them something to drink?"

"Sure." Jack replied.

"I will assist you, O'Neill." And with that Teal'c and Jack headed toward the kitchen.

"So, Sam, General O'Neill was your reason for requesting R&D at Area 51." Colonel Mitchell's comment was a statement rather than a question.

"And that would explain Jack's reluctance to let you come back to the SGC." Said Landry as if the light bulb just went on.

"Yes. We felt it was time that you both knew about us. We got married while I was **_not_** in Jack's chain of command. Now that he's head of Homeworld Security I'm in his chain of command again which is why we have been keeping a low profile. We just felt it was time that all of our friends knew." Sam said.

"Cool." Said Cameron.

Sam led Daniel, Cameron and General Landry into the living room and Jack handed out beers to the newcomers.

"Well, I'm happy for you guys." Said Mitchell.

"Thanks, Cameron." Replied Sam.

"Well, no one is as happy as Teal'c and I are. Isn't that right, Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

"Indeed" replied Teal'c with one raised eyebrow and a slight smile.

"Why is that, T?" Asked Jack.

"Because you two were driving us crazy." Answered Daniel.

"What?" Sam and Jack said together.

"You two have been in love for years and it drove the rest of us nuts to watch you and know you couldn't do anything about it." Said Daniel.

"Well, thanks for your support Daniel." Jack replied sarcastically.

"Anytime, Jack."

-x-x-x-


	22. Chapter 22

Scenario 22

A/N: Thanks to JJ for the inspiration for this scenario.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- 

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was deep in thought as headed to her lab in the SGC. As she rounded a corner she ran into Agent Kerri Johnson, nearly knocking the woman down.

"Oh, Agent Johnson, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, Colonel, no harm done."

"Uh, yeah, well, I have to get to my lab." Sam stuttered and started briskly for her own little sanctuary within the SGC.

"Colonel Carter, wait!" Kerri called after her.

Sam stopped where she was and turned around to look at the beautiful redhead. She wondered what the woman wanted and couldn't stop the irrational pang of jealousy she felt.

"Yes?" Sam asked.

Agent Johnson walked over to her and said quietly "So did you and Jack ever get that thing between you two worked out?"

"What?" Sam stammered.

"Colonel, please don't tell me that the reason I broke up with Jack doesn't exist anymore. I mean if I broke up with him and you two decided not to do anything about your feelings for each other then I would be really upset. I liked Jack a lot. He is a hell of a sexy man."

Sam closed her eyes as if she were in pain and rubbed her forehead. "Um, this is really awkward. Do we have to talk about this?"

"Look, Colonel, I've moved on. I'm not interested in Jack anymore except that I'm curious and I want him to be happy."

Sam looked around the corridor surreptitiously then said "Ok, if it will make you feel better, Jack and I are together."

"Together, together, or just dating?"

Sam tilted her head and frowned slightly. "You certainly are bold."

"You have to be in my line of work."

"Ok, we're together, together. Now I really have to get to my lab."

"Alright." Said Kerri and as she walked away added "See you around Mrs. O'Neill."

Sam turned and looked at her dumbfounded as the realization hit. 'The woman works for the freakin' CIA! She knew all along!'

-x-x-x-


	23. Chapter 23

_**Scenario 23**_

Major General Jack O'Neill's presence had been requested at yet another formal Washington D.C. function at the White House. Jack sidled up to the open bar and ordered a whiskey seven and looked around the room as he waited for his drink.

Before long the man in the red server's jacket handed him the drink and Jack moved away from the bar. Just as he took a sip from the glass an Army General came up and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Jack, how ya doin'?" He asked.

"General Bradshaw isn't it?"

"Yep, Army Intellegence."

"Well, that's an oxymoron." Jack said with a grimace. He had dealt with the man on a couple of occasions and Jack's candid opinion was that the General was an ass.

"Oh, yeah, we hear that all the time." Replied Bradshaw with a chuckle. "You know, Jack, you'll soon find out that the best thing about being at the Pentagon is getting invited to all these political functions. There's always a lot of sexy young women here who just want to get lucky with guys like us."

Jack glared at Bradshaw and was about to make an excuse to get away from him when a tall, beautiful blonde wearing a simple but elegant black dress walked into the room.

"Hey, Jack," Bradshaw elbowed O'Neill in the side. "See what I mean! Get a load of what just walked in here!"

Jack followed the man's gaze to the blue eyed blonde in the black dress.

"She. Is. Hot! I bet she would be great in bed! See ya around, Jack, I'm going to see if I can get lucky with that!" Bradshaw indicated the blonde woman who had just walked in.

Jack reached out and put his hand on Bradshaw's arm. "Listen, Sparky, I wouldn't go after her if I were you."

"Why not, Jack? She's new here and she's one sexy..."

"Actually, I know her." Jack said in a calm voice. "And she could kick your ass without breaking a sweat."

Just then an Air Force Major came up to Jack and said "Sir, I'm sorry, but the President wants to see you immediately."

Jack turned to Bradshaw and said "Stay away from her." He indicated the tall, beautiful woman across the room, then followed as the Major led him to the President.

As soon as Jack O'Neill was out of view, General Bradshaw got two glasses of white wine from the bar and headed over to the blonde woman he had been admiring from a distance.

"Would you like a drink?" He asked as he offered her the wine.

"Thank you." she said as she took the glass from him.

"I've never seen you here before, you must be new in town."

"I guess you could say that."

"So, what's your name?"

"Samantha Carter. And you?"

"Major General Doug Bradshaw, but you can call me Doug." He replied. "So what do you do Samantha?"

"I'm a theoretical astrophysicist ."

"Whoa! Beauty **_and_** brains. I'm with Army Intelligence." Bradshaw said proudly.

The General was starting to get on Sam's nerves.

"Well, that's an oxymoron." She quipped.

"You know, that's the second time tonight that someone has said that exact phrase to me."

Sam shrugged and gave the General a smile that was more of a grimace than a smile.

"So, Samantha, I know this out of the way little bistro, very private, very romantic. What do you say we get out of here?"

"No thank you, General, I'm suppose to meet someone here."

"Please, call me Doug." He gave her a smarmy smile then said "Samantha, let's dance while you're waiting for your friend to arrive."

"No, General, I really don't want to dance."

Just then Jack walked up, put his arm around Sam and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, I'm late, I had to talk to the President."

Sam's face lit up with a smile as she said "I haven't been waiting long."

"I see you've met General Bradley here." Jack said

"It's Brad-SHAW, O'Neill." The Army General said, clearly irritated.

"Right. So, Bradshaw have you met my **_wife_**, Samantha Carter?" Jack gave the General his best shit eating grin.

The Army General's eyes got wide and his mouth hung open for a moment before he was able to croak out "Your **_wife_**?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised she hasn't kicked your ass yet."

Sam grinned at Jack and said "Well, there is that whole striking a superior officer thing."

"Ah." Jack nodded.

"Well, see you around, General." Jack said as he led Sam away from the man.

Bradshaw swore slightly under his breath as he watched the handsome couple walk away from him.

"Damn! Some guys get all the luck."

-x-x-x-


	24. Chapter 24 Thanksgiving

_**Scenario 24**_  
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was coming up and, after nearly 5 months, the only people who knew that Jack and Sam were married were the ones they considered their immediate family, Daniel, Teal'c, Cassie, George Hammond and Thor.

The newly weds decided it was time to let a few people from the SGC into the loop.

Teal'c, Daniel, Cameron Mitchell and Sam were eating lunch in the commissary and the topic turned to everyone's plans for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

"I would like to have all of you come over to my house for a football party the day after Thanksgiving." Sam began. "It's a tradition for Colorado to play Nebraska on that Friday and it's always a good game."

"Sam, I didn't know you were a Colorado fan." Cameron said as he looked at her quizzically.

"Well, Air Force is my team, but you can't live in Colorado and not root for the Buffalos when they play Nebraska." She replied.

Cameron just nodded his head.

"O'Neill attempted to convince me of the virtues of the game on many occasions." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather watch college football than ice hockey or curling any day!" Quipped Daniel.

"So, what do you guys say? Football party at my house on the 25th?"

"Sure, Sam, I'll be there." Daniel replied.

"I, too will join you for the festivities." Teal'c remarked.

"Count me in! " Said Cameron.

After lunch Sam stopped by General Landry's office.

He waved for her to come in after she knocked on his door.

"What can I do for you Colonel?"

"Sir, I would like to invite you to my house on the day after Thanksgiving for a football party. Colorado verses Nebraska. The rest of SG1 and a couple other people will be there."

Landry looked at her in surprise then said "Alright. It sounds like fun. Is there anything I can bring, Colonel?"

"No, Sir. The party starts at 1300 and we'll have plenty of beer and snacks. Oh, brand new wide screen plasma TV too. "

"I never pictured you as the plasma TV, football fan kind of person, Colonel. I will definitely be there."

Cassie came home from college the day before Thanksgiving and helped Sam and Jack get everything ready for Thanksgiving Day as well as for the football party.

The day of the party Daniel and Teal'c were the first to arrive because Sam had asked them to come early. She was feeling nervous about people from the SGC finding out that she was married to Major General Jack O'Neill.

When then doorbell rang Jack answered the door wearing a black Colorado Buffalos T-shirt and jeans.

Daniel entered the foyer followed by Teal'c. "Good to see you Jack." he said "So where is this is the new wide screen plasma TV we've been hearing about?"

"I haven't see you for three months and all you can ask about is the new TV? That hurts me, Daniel."

The archeologist rolled his eyes.

"It is good to see you O'Neill." Teal'c grasped Jack's arm and gave a slight bow.

"Good to see you too, T." Jack replied. "Come in. Can I get you guys something to drink?"

Just then Cassie entered the room. "I've got the drinks, Uncle Jack." She handed a beer to Daniel and a ginger ale to Teal'c.

Sam entered the room wearing the exact same Colorado T-shirt that Jack was wearing.

"Um, Sam, don't you think the matching outfits are a bit over the top?" Asked Daniel.

"The shirts were a gift from Cassie." She explained.

"I've got one too, I just haven't put it on yet." Cassie said excitedly. "I guess I should go do that now." She said, and hurriedly left the room

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Holy Hannah, they're early!" Sam said as she looked at her watch.

Jack strode over to the door and opened it. General Hank Landry clearly had not expected to see Jack O'Neill at the party. "Ah, Jack, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I could say that I just dropped in for the party but, actually, I live here."

"What?" The General was clearly confused.

"Ok, I live here part time. Come on in, Hank,"

Landry stepped into the room and silently handed Daniel the 12 pack of Guinness he had brought.

"Hank, have you met my wife?" Jack asked with a smirk.

Landry looked dumbfounded. "Your wife? I didn't know you were married, so no, I don't believe I have met your wife."

Sam was starting to blush and had a very pained expression on her face.

"Sam?" Jack said and held out his hand for her. Teal'c and Daniel looked on in amusement.

Sam walked over toward Jack, but did not take his extended hand. Jack turned back toward Landry and said "Hank, this is my wife, Samantha Carter. Sam, General Hank Landry."

Sam smiled weakly and looked down at her shoes for a second before finally making eye contact with the still confused Hank Landry.

Finally she said "Um, Jack and I have been married for about 5 months."

Jack put his arm around Sam's shoulder and said "We felt it was finally time for you to be in the loop, Hank."

Daniel could barely contain his giggling as he watched Landry looking from Sam to Jack and taking in the fact that they were wearing matching his and hers Colorado Buffalos t-shirts.

Just then, to break the tension, Cassie came bounding into the room, also wearing the same Colorado t-shirt. "Mom! Dad! You guys didn't tell me the guests were arriving!" She bounded over to General Landry, gave him a small hug and said "I'm Cassie! You must be General Landry! Mom has told me so much about you!"

Sam grimaced "Cassie!" she said in a tone that sounded very mother-like.

Hank was still standing in the front entrance to the house wearing his coat and a throughly confused look on his face.

Sam turned to look at Jack and whispered "You and Cassie planned this didn't you!" Jack just smiled.

"Dad! Didn't you even ask our guests if you could take their coats?" She scolded in a teasing voice.

"Let me take your coat, Hank." Jack said as the man began to shrug out of it.

"General Landry, I believe you could use one of these." Teal'c took a beer from the 12 pack Daniel was holding and handed it to the man.

"Come on in and have a seat." Cassie said as she took General Landry by the arm and led him to a leather chair in the living room. Daniel and Teal'c followed her to the room listening to her explain "Sam and Jack aren't really my Mom and Dad, it's just that they've been my family ever since I came to this planet."

When the doorbell rang a few seconds later, Sam said "Ok, it's my turn to answer the door." and shot Jack a warning glance.

Sam opened the door and invited Colonel Mitchell into the house. "Hi Cameron." She said. "Come in."

"Hey, Mitchell." Said Jack as he extended his arm to shake hands with Cameron.

"General O'Neill, Sam didn't tell me that you were going to be here."

"Yes, well..."

Sam was afraid of what Jack might say after the act he and Cassandra put on for General Landry.

"Um, Cameron, ah, Jack is my um, well, we're..."

"We're married." Jack finished for her.

Cameron's eye got wide. "Married? For how long?"

"About 5 months," Sam replied.

Cameron stood there contemplating this information when the light bulb finally went on. "That was your reason for requesting the R&D job at Area 51."

Sam nodded.

"Well, that's cool." He said.

Jack and Sam got beers for themselves and for Cameron then led him into the living room. The group finally settled in front of the wide screen plasma TV with their drinks and snacks, ready for the football game to begin. Nebraska had won the toss and had elected to kick off to Colorado. Just as the kicker made contact with the ball Thor beamed into the living room right in front of the TV.

"Greetings, O'Neill."

"Thor, good buddy! I thought you said you couldn't make it to the party."

"I cannot stay O'Neill. I do not understand the attraction this game holds for your race. However, I was in the vicinity of Earth so I came to thank you in person for your invitation and check to make sure that you and Carter are not having any difficulties with the transportation stones I gave you."

"No, Thor the transportation thingys are working great!"

"Very well. I will take my leave."

"Always good to see you Thor! Are you sure you don't want to stay for a beer?"

"No thank you, O'Neill." and with that Thor was gone.

General Landry shook his head. "You know, I had no idea how boring and normal my life was before I met all of you!"

"Yes, well, normal is overrated." Jack said with a smirk as he sat down beside Sam on the couch and put his arm around her.

-x-x-x-


	25. Chapter 25

_**Scenario 25**_

The past few weeks had been bad for Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. She had been working around the clock in her lab trying to get a new piece of alien technology to work. Then five days ago the SGC received some intelligence regarding a potential new powerful ally and SG1 was selected to make contact. SG1 shipped out to P4G-373 as soon as their equipment was packed.

Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c and Sam had spent five days in rainy, swampy conditions, on what Sam referred to as a "Mud Planet", just to find out that the race they were trying to make contact with had apparently never even been to 373.

When Landry finally told them to scrub the mission and come home all the members of SG1 were ready. No one insisted that they needed to stay behind to study some rocks or ruins or ancient technology.

As Daniel began to dial up Earth Sam's thoughts turned to Jack O'Neill. They had been married for 5 months and had spent at least half of that time apart. She knew it would still be a few days before she could get to Washington to see him, but at least they would be on the same planet.

As SG1 walked through the event horizon and onto the ramp in the SGC, the first thing that Samantha Carter saw was Major General Jack O'Neill standing beside General Landry at the end of the ramp.

Sam didn't say a word, or return Jack's smile. Her eyes locked on his and she walked purposefully down the ramp. At the bottom of the ramp she dropped her back pack on the floor, grabbed Jack by the lapels of his dress blues, pulled him to her and kissed him.

General Landry's eyes got wide and his mouth popped open. He stood frozen in place watching a Lieutenant Colonel under his command kissing the Head of Homeworld Security.

Likewise, Colonel Mitchell stood glued to his spot on the ramp watching the scene in front of him.

After a few short seconds, Jack O'Neill took Sam in his arms and dipped her like he had done during the time loop. Everyone in the control room and the embarkation room who had known Sam and Jack when they were on SG1 together began to cheer almost simultaneously.

When Jack finally released Sam from the dip he took a step back, grinned at her and said "Feel better?"

She smiled her _'I love you Jack'_ smile at him and said "I'm getting there."

"Ah, Jack?" General Landry questioned.

Jack finally took his eyes off Sam and turned to look at General Landry. "Hank, I'd like you to meet my wife."

Landry's jaw dropped open and another round of cheers and applause came from the crew working in the control room.

When Hank finally found his voice he said "Wow, you guys have quite a fan club."

Daniel had all he could take and decided it was time to butt in. "General, these people aren't their fan club, they're the people who have been watching Sam and Jack deny their feeling for each other for years. These two have made the rest of us crazy."

"Indeed." Intoned Teal'c

"Oh, and they're probably the winners in the 'Sam and Jack kiss in the gateroom' pool."

"I believe you owe me twenty dollars Daniel Jackson."

-x-x-x-


	26. Chapter 26 Orlin

Chapter 26

Orlin

A/N: My job has kept me really busy and I haven't been able to write much lately. However, since seeing the Fourth Horseman I have had several ideas for working Jack into the story. It's a pretty serious episode so not much humor here. I hope you like it anyway.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had been a bad day for Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. In fact, it ranked right up there with some of the worst days ever, and Samantha Carter had had some very bad days. On this day she had been working in her lab for 20 hours straight and everyone kept looking at her as if she was going to suddenly pull the miracle cure for the plague out of her hat.

Orlin, who had 'descended' to help her, was forced to take the form of a 12 year old boy, however, he still had adult feelings for Sam and that was making her very uncomfortable. Orlin now lay in a hospital bed in the infirmary, unable to help because he was apparently burning out his brain.

The entire country was under quarantine and to add to Carter's stress, General Landry had now contracted the plague.

Sam sat at the microscope, her eyes clenched shut, rubbing her forehead when Dr. Lee entered.

"Any news yet from Mitchell and Jackson?" the scientist asked her hopefully.

"No, nothing yet." she replied "How's Orlin?"

"Still unconscious. He doesn't seem to be any better."

"Damn!" Sam blew out a breath. "I hope Daniel and Mitchell return soon with a sample of the Prior's blood."

"Listen, I'm going to my quarters. I can't even see straight any more." Dr. Lee stated as he left the lab.

15 minutes later Colonel Carter was staring so intently through the microscope that she didn't even hear Doctor Lam enter her lab.

"Colonel Carter, I am ordering you to get some rest." The Doctor stated.

"Excuse me?" Carter turned to look at the woman. The female doctor had suddenly reminded her of Janet.

"You are exhausted Colonel and you need to get some rest. For all we know you may be looking at the solution right now and can't see it because you're too tired."

Sam knew the doctor was right. "I guess I could nap for a couple hours and then start on this again." She said as she hesitantly shut down her lab top. Sam exited her lab and headed directly for her quarters on base.

Once in the privacy of her room she picked up the telephone and punched the number to get an outside line then quickly dialed the number of Jack's cell phone.

In Washington D.C. the whole 'plague unleashed on Earth by the Ori' thing was consuming all the time and energy of General Jack O'Neill. He had been tossing and turning in bed in his lonely apartment for over an hour when his cell phone rang.

Jack picked it up after just one ring and flipped it open. "O'Neill." He said gruffly.

"Hi, Jack." Came the weary voice from the other end of the line. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, I wasn't asleep." He said softly. "So, how's it going, Carter?"

"Not good. Daniel and Mitchell still aren't back with the sample of the Prior's blood, Orlin is having mental lapses and of course, you know that General Landry now has the plague."

"Sam, you'll figure it out."

"No, Jack, I don't think I will."

"You're just tired. Get some sleep and things will look better in the morning."

"I miss you." She said softly.

"I miss you too. I wish I could be there with you."

"I know. It's just not safe to travel, even with the transporter devices Thor gave us, you never know who you will come in contact with that may already be carrying the disease."

"I know, Sam." he paused for a second before continuing "So, do you think Orlin will be able to give us anymore assistance?"

"I don't know. It's almost like he's burning his brain out." Sam hesitated a moment before saying "He's creeping me out, Jack."

"How is he creeping you out?"

Sam was very uncomfortable with the feelings Orlin had for her but she felt like she had to tell Jack about it because otherwise the situation was compounded by the fact that she was keeping it from him. It made her feel guilty.

"Well, um..." She struggled with what she had to say. "He has feelings for me."

"But he's like a 12 year old kid isn't he?"

"Well, physically, yes, but mentally and emotionally he's an adult. I tried to explain to him that I don't have those kind of feelings for him and that it is totally inappropriate for him to express them to me. He just doesn't seem to get it."

"Sam, you have enough to think about without worrying about hurting the feelings of a 12 year old Ancient!"

"But he says he loves me. It not only creeps me out, but somehow makes me feel like I'm cheating on you."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Well, then stop worrying about it!" In a softer voice he added "We're gonna be alright, Sam."

She said "I miss you so much..." and her voice broke. She was embarrassed and didn't want Jack to know she was on the verge of tears.

He knew anyway.

"I love you." He said softly then added more firmly "Now, get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." She replied. "I love you too."

Sam hung up the phone and although her mind was spinning, trying to think of solutions to the plague problem, she was so physically and mentally exhausted that within minutes was she was asleep.

Back in Washington, Jack put the phone down on the bedside table and stared up at the ceiling. This was one of the worst situations the world had ever faced since he joined the Stargate program over 9 years ago. Jack knew that Sam was the best defense the country had, but he knew she was facing this alone. In the past Jack had always been at her side, even if it was just to make a goofy joke and get her to relax and smile for a minute.

Jack made up his mind. He got out of bed, dressed in his uniform, put his cell phone in his pocket and touched the transportation stone mounted on the wall of the bedroom. Seconds later, in a flash of light, he appeared in the bedroom of the house he and Sam shared in Colorado Springs.

He went out to the driveway and was pleased to see that Sam had taken the car instead of his pickup. He got in the truck and drove to Cheyenne Mountain.

It was almost 4 AM when General O'Neill got the officer on duty to unlock General Landry's office. Jack went right to the key cabinet and pulled out a master key then headed straight for Sam's quarters.

Jack knew that what he was about to do was completely against the regulations. Even though he and Sam were married, fraternization was forbidden on base. Not to mention the fact that, other than Daniel and Teal'c, no one at the SGC knew about Sam and Jack. At this point in time Jack didn't care. He opened the door to Sam's quarters and quietly stepped inside.

Sam was sound asleep in the double bed with her face toward the wall and her back toward him. After locking the door behind him, Jack silently slipped off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers. He crawled into bed beside Sam, spooned up to her, put his arm around her waist and placed a few light kisses on her neck and shoulder. Then he too, drifted off to sleep.

Somewhere around 0630 the Colonel and the General were awakened by an SF pounding on the door shouting "Colonel Carter? Doctor Lam needs to see you. Colonel?"

"Uh,...tell her I'll be there in a few minutes." Carter answered.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Sam rolled on her side to look at Jack who was laying on his side with his head propped up on his hand "What are you doing here?" She asked him with a grin.

He shrugged. "I just thought you might need me to make light of the situation, and for moral support."

"You know you shouldn't be here."

"I know, but I'll sneak out of your quarters after you leave." He said as he reached out to play with the spaghetti straps of the camisole top Sam liked to wear to bed.

"Jack, you know that's not what I meant. You shouldn't even be in Colorado Springs."

"I know," he ran his hand down her arm, "but it just seems like when you're saving the world I should be with you."

She gave him one the smiles she reserved just for Jack O'Neill.

He pushed her back down on the bed and gave her a passionate kiss before saying "You better get out there and save the world, Colonel."

"Yes, sir." She replied with a grin.

-x-x-x-


	27. Chapter 27

**_Chapter 27 _**

A/N: I am considering submitting this vignette as a stand alone story for those people who have not been following The Powers That Be series. If anyone has a suggestion for a title let me know.

-x-x-x-

Pete Shanahan sat alone in his small apartment, staring into his beer. A football game was playing on the TV, but Pete wasn't watching the game; it was just background noise. Somehow, the crowd noise and announcers voices made him feel like he wasn't alone.

Sam had dumped him. It had been over five months now, but the pain was still with him. He always knew that he was very lucky that Sam even agreed to go out with him in the first place, but as their relationship progressed, Pete always felt that there was some**_one_** standing between him and Sam. He hurriedly asked her to marry him at a time when he knew she felt alone and vulnerable, hoping that she would say yes. It took her almost 3 weeks but she finally consented to be his wife.

Pete knew that once he and Sam were married things would be different. She would **_have_** to tell him what was going on in that mountain. Of course there would be children so Sam wouldn't be able to go off world anymore. She could get a nice 8 to 4 job teaching at the Air Force Academy.

They would have a quiet, normal life; 2.5 kids, a dog, a pleasant little house in the suburbs (that he picked out of course), his Friday night poker games with the guys, Sam doing the soccer mom thing, yeah, he had it all figured out. Once they were married she belonged to him and even if her heart was with some other guy it wouldn't matter.

All of Pete's buddies were incredulous at Pete's good fortune. They couldn't believe that someone as hot and smart as Samantha Carter would hook up with an ordinary cop like Pete. For his part, Pete enjoyed flaunting his relationship with Sam in front of the guys. He made a point of telling them when he was spending the night at her place. When they would ask him if she was good in bed he always had a ready come back. "With a body like that you think she wouldn't be?" or "Come on guys, she's hot!" or his favorite "Oh, yeah..." and he'd drag out the word "yeah.".

Pete was now entering a new phase of his grieving process, he was no longer sad and feeling sorry for himself, he was angry and ready for some revenge.

Pete polished off the rest of his beer then and went to the refrigerator and pulled out another. It was the 7th bottle he had had that afternoon, but who was counting. After popping the top and taking a long pull on the ice cold beverage, Pete picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" said a familiar voice at the other end of the line.

"Hey, Mark!" Pete began cheerfully, "How are you doing?"

"Pete! Hey, how's it going? Have you and my sister set a date yet?"

"Well, um, actually, that's the reason I'm calling." Pete tried to sound concerned.

"What's wrong?" Worry was evident in Mark's voice.

Pete smiled to himself as he felt Mark was about to take the bait.

"Well, your dad's death really hit Sam hard." He began in his most sincere voice.

"Yeah, I know." Mark replied solemnly.

"She called off the wedding the day before your dad died."

"What!" Mark was enraged "I know I didn't see you at the memorial service but I just figured with your police work you couldn't get off. I thought she just put the wedding off for a couple months because of the funeral."

"Yeah, well, I thought Sam needed some space and I figured after she had some time to grieve that we would get back together. I haven't seen or heard from her in over five months. Problem is, Sam is a very proud person and since **_she_** called off the wedding I know she would rather live a lonely life than come back to me and ask if we could get back together. I think if we were 'accidentally' put into a situation where we were together..."

Mark finished the thought for him "That the two of you could get back together and Sam could still save face."

"Yeah, exactly." Pete replied. There was a moment of silence before he continued "So, Sam didn't tell you that we had broken up?" Pete was expertly casting his lure into the calm waters.

"No, she didn't say a thing, but Sam was always a lot like Dad and she is so wrapped up in her military career..."

"You know, I met your Dad a short time before he died. I didn't make a very good impression on him and I'm afraid that's part of the reason Sam needed some time away from me."

"Oh, I wouldn't be at all surprised." Replied Mark. After another short silence Mark suddenly said "Hey! I've got an idea! I'm going to call Sam and ask her if she wouldn't mind having my family come out for Christmas. I can go on about how the kids don't get to see snow here in San Diego and how it would be good for us as a family, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Ok..." Pete said slowly "but how, does that get Sam and I together?"

"She's living in a different house now, so I can call you and invite you over for Christmas dinner or Christmas Eve and you could say you had no idea that Sam was living at that address."

Pete smiled an evil little grin. "You know, it just might work." He said trying to make his voice sound optimistic not conniving.

"Good! It's all settled then. I'll contact Sam and then let you know the details."

"Alright! I'll talk to you later then." Pete hung up feeling quite satisfied with himself.

-x-x-x-

A few days later, after Mark had discussed spending Christmas in Colorado Springs with his wife, he made the call to Sam.

When the house phone rang Sam checked the caller ID and was surprised to see that it was her brother.

"Hi, Mark." She said as she picked up the phone.

"You know, I still can't get used to caller ID." He said in response.

"So, how are you?" She asked.

"Good. And you?"

"Good. How are the kids?"

"They're doing fine, but I have a favor to ask you on their behalf."

"What's that?"

"Well, they're starting to talk about Christmas and they want to know if they could come and spend it with their Aunt Sam in Colorado. They want to have snow for Christmas."

"Oh. Well, uh...when would you want to come out and how long do you want to stay?"

"I thought we would fly out on the 23rd and fly back on the 26th. I figured we would rent a car in Denver so you wouldn't have to come and pick us up."

"That sounds good, Mark, but I'll have to check my work schedule and let you know. I'll call you back in a couple days."

"Yeah, your precious military." Mark said sarcastically.

"Mark, please don't start on that. I just don't want you to spend the money on airline tickets to find out that I will be, uh, out of the country or something."

"Yeah, right, ok."

"I'll do everything I can to set up my schedule so that we can spend Christmas together. I'll call you in a couple days."

"Ok, talk to you later, Sam."

"Bye, Mark."

Sam hung up the phone and wondered how Jack would react to the news that her brother and his family suddenly wanted to come and spend Christmas with them. She also wondered how Mark and his family would take the news that Sam was married to General Jack O'Neill. She hadn't even told Mark that she called off the wedding to Pete, so the fact that she was married to someone else probably would not sit well with her brother.

Jack was really busy in Washington and he told Sam he wouldn't be able to come home until the weekend. Sam did not want to discuss something this important over the phone so she figured Mark would just have to wait.

Jack came home late Friday night and on Saturday Sam asked him to go with her for a walk in the park. As they were walking she told Jack about Mark wanting to come out and spend Christmas with them.

Jack didn't say anything for quite awhile and Sam allowed him time to gather his thoughts. Finally he said "Sam, you know I'm not too big on Christmas..."

"Yeah, I know, bah humbug and all that." She replied with a smile. Sam knew the real reason was because of Charlie. After a brief pause she said sincerely "I know it's hard for you, so if you don't want to have kids around and do the Santa thing and all that I understand. It will be easy to convince Mark that I have to be out of the country so we won't be able to do Christmas together."

Jack put his arm around her as they walked and looked down at her. "No, I think maybe we should do this. It would be good for Cassie too, having some little kids around. She would get a big kick out of it."

"Are you sure, Jack?"

"Yeah." He said with a grin.

"Ok, well, do I tell him about us before he gets here or wait until they show up and surprise them?"

Jack gave her a wicked grin and said "I think it would be fun to surprise them when they get here!"

She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow and said "You know that Pete was a friend of my brother's and that Mark introduced us don't you?"

"No, I didn't know that, but that just makes it more fun!"

As Christmas approached Cassie really started to get into the spirit of the season. It was the first time since Janet had died that Cassie was actually looking forward to Christmas. She got out of school on December 9th and when she got back to Colorado Springs she gave Sam and Jack a bad time because they hadn't done any decorating.

Cassie picked out a tree, decorated the house, put up Christmas lights, baked cookies, picked out the gifts that Sam and Jack would give to their niece and nephew, and bought and decorated Santa stockings for everyone.

Cassie insisted that Daniel and Teal'c be invited over for Christmas Eve and even put the name "Murray" on Teal'c's stocking.

Mark and his family flew into Denver on the 23rd, but told Sam they were going to spend the night at a hotel in Denver. They wanted to do some last minute shopping, see some of their friends from school, and take the kids to an old fashioned outdoor skating rink. Mark told Sam that they would be get to her house early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

Sam explained to her brother that she was planning to have a get together with a few close friends on Christmas Eve and that Christmas day would be just the family. Mark said that was fine with him and secretly speculated that a Christmas party was the perfect opportunity for Pete to just pop in.

-x-x-x-

Christmas Eve dawned cold, crisp and cloudy and by mid morning a gentle snow had begun to fall. Jack built a welcoming fire in the fireplace, Cassie had Christmas carols playing softly on the stereo and the smell of pine from the fresh cut Christmas tree made the house warm and inviting.

Around 2:30 in the afternoon the doorbell rang at the O'Neill's home. Teal'c opened the door to find Pete Shannahan standing there.

"Um, Murray isn't it?" Asked Pete "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you Pete Shannahan."

"Ah, I was given this address by Mark Carter. He invited me to come over to see him. He's a buddy of mine and he called to say he was going to be in town..." Pete rambled on nervously.

"Who's at the door, Teal'c?" Jack called from the dining room.

"O'Neill, it is Pete Shannahan."

"WHAT?" Jack's head suddenly appeared around the corner to the foyer.

"Ah, General O'Neill, what are you doing here?"

"I live here, Shannahan. What are you doing here?"

"Mark Carter called me about a week ago and told me he was going to be in town. He gave me this address and invited me to come over."

"Ah. I remember now, Carter said that you and her brother were good friends."

"Yeah, we've known each other since high school."

"Well, Mark isn't here yet, but come on in." Jack held the door open for the detective and Teal'c gave Jack a look that said 'Are you sure this is wise, O'Neill?'.

Jack patted the Jaffa's muscular arm and said "It'll be ok, Te...uh, Murray." Then to Pete he said "Can I get you a beer?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Pete replied feeling the need for some liquid courage.

"Murray, why don't you take Pete to the family room."

Teal'c nodded and indicated that Pete should follow him.

The warm fire was crackling in the fireplace, from somewhere Nat King Cole was softly singing _Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire_ and a beautifully decorated tree filled a corner of the room. .

Pete looked around uneasily.

"Please sit, Pete Shannahan." Teal'c instructed as he indicated the sofa to the man.

"Jack, who was at the door?" Sam asked as he came back into the kitchen.

"Pete Shannahan."

"WHAT?" Exclaimed Sam, Daniel and Cassie simultaneously.

"Apparently your brother invited him."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Sam said as she closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her forehead.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Stated Cassie with an evil grin.

"Cassandra Fraiser, you be nice!" Jack admonished. "Daniel, why don't you take him a beer?" Jack asked as he pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to the archeologist.

"Why me?" Daniel whined.

"Because he's alone in the family room with **_Murray_** right now!" Jack reproved.

Daniel rolled his eyes then took his own beer along with one for Pete and headed to the family room.

"So,... Pete, ...how are you doing?" Daniel asked as he handed the cop a beer.

"Well, I'm a little confused. Mark said this was going to be a Christmas party but he didn't tell me you guys were all going to be here. I guess I should have guessed, him being Sam's brother and all."

"Uh, yeah." Daniel replied as he sat down in the easy chair near the Christmas tree.

"I believe that Samantha requires my assistance." Teal'c bowed and started out of the room.

"Teal'c!" Daniel called after him but the Jaffa was gone.

Daniel and Pete sat in uncomfortable silence for a time before Pete asked "So, how's Sam?"

"She's good."

"Oh, good." He was hoping to hear that she was pining away for him.

More silence. "Is she here?"

"Um, yeah, she's here."

"Could I see her?"

"Ah, well,...I'll go see if she can come and talk to you." Daniel got up quickly and left the room. It was way too uncomfortable for him.

When he got to the kitchen he said "Sam, I think you better go talk to Pete."

Sam looked from Daniel to Jack. Jack nodded slightly to her and she took a deep breath before leaving the kitchen.

"Pete. Hi." She said as she entered the family room.

"Hi, Sam." Pete said as he rose from his seat and came over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

She cringed but did not say anything.

"So, how have you been?" He asked.

"Good. And you?"

"Um, well, busy. You know I moved back to Denver."

"Yeah, I heard."

Just then the doorbell rang and Sam thought 'saved by the bell!' "That's probably Mark and his family. I'll just go check." She could hear someone from the kitchen heading to the front door so she called "I'll get it!"

Pete was about to put plan 'A' into action. He followed Sam out of the family room and was standing right beside her when she opened the door.

"Sam! Pete! Great to see you guys!" Exclaimed Mark as she opened the door.

"Uh, no..." Sam started to say but Pete pushed past her with his hand extended.

"Great to see you, Mark!" Mark took the offered hand and then wrapped his free arm around Pete's shoulder's in a brief, masculine hug.

Pete stepped back and said "Hey, it's cold out there, you guys should come in!"

Mark entered the foyer and gave Sam a brief hug. "So have you and Pete set a date yet?" He asked.

Before Sam could answer her brother's question, Mark's kids started shouting "It's snowing! We knew you would have snow, Aunt Sam! Can we go play in it? Do you have a sled? Are there any hills around here? Can we build a snowman? How 'bout a snowball fight?"

Hearing all the commotion Jack came into the small, crowded foyer followed by Cassie, Teal'c and Daniel.

"So, you folks made it." He said cheerily.

"Uh, General O'Neill isn't it?" Asked Mark "Sam said she was going to have a party for some of her friends from work."

Jack looked at Sam and she shrugged.

"Well, why don't you all come into the family room and get comfortable. Mark would you like a beer?" Jack asked.

Mark looked confused at the offer coming from General O'Neill but replied that a beer would be fine with him.

"Cassie, why don't you take the kids downstairs and watch some Christmas cartoons with them."

Sam suggested.

"Aw, Saaaaam..." Cassie whined. She wanted to stick around and see the fireworks.

"Just for now, Cassie." Sam replied firmly.

As Cassie led the kids to the basement Jack called after her "Hey! Don't mess up my Simpson's DVD's! They're in chronological order you know!"

"Don't worry **_Dad_**!" She called back.

Mark looked at Jack and asked "Is Cassie your daughter then?"

"Uh, no, she's the adopted daughter of a close friend who was killed in the line of duty a couple years ago. Sam and I are the closest things to parents she's got."

Mark got a very confused look on his face as he looked at Sam and then back at Jack.

"Daniel Jackson, I believe you and I should go to the kitchen and set out the food that Samantha and Cassandra have prepared." Teal'c indicated that Daniel should follow him to the kitchen.

"Uh, what, Te...um Murray?"

"Did we not tell Samantha that we would help out in the kitchen?"

"Oh, yeah, that!" Daniel replied, finally taking the hint and following Teal'c from the room.

After Mark, his wife April, and Pete were all settled in chairs in the family room Jack said "Ok, a beer for Mark and what would you like?" He asked April. "We have beer, eggnog, mulled wine..."

"The wine would be fine for me" she replied.

"Sam, do you need another beer?" He asked.

"Yes, please."

Once Jack was gone Mark asked again "So, Sam, when are you and Pete getting married?"

Sam looked over at Pete and instead of looking uncomfortable like she did, the man was positively glowing. Sam cocked her head slightly to one side, bit her lower lip, and then looked back at her brother.

"Mark, I know I should have told you this before, but Pete and I broke up."

"WHAT!" He said feigning outrage. Mark looked from Sam to Pete and then back to Sam.

"But you two were so good together."

Pete took a sip of his beer and smiled at Sam.

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes Mark was still staring at her. "It's very complicated, Mark, but things just weren't working out."

Just then Jack returned with the drinks. He handed Sam a fresh beer, gave April the mulled wine and handed a beer to Mark. Then he stood beside Sam and put his arm around her shoulder.

Sam leaned into Jack's body and wrapped her arm around his waist.

Mark's eye got big as saucers and Pete's mouth dropped open. When Mark had recovered enough to speak he said "So, are you two _living_ together?"

"Uh, you could say that." Jack replied.

"Sam, How could you do that to Pete?" Mark asked angrily.

"Mark, it's really none of our business." April said calmly.

Mark ignored the comment from his wife. He now knew _why_ his sister had broken up with his best friend. He looked back at Jack "Aren't you Sam's commanding officer? I thought there were rules and regulations that forbid a commanding officer from dating one of his subordinates." Mark's voice was icy.

The light bulb finally went on for Pete. He stood up and looked Sam in the eye. "It was always General O'Neill wasn't it? He was always the one standing between us. God, I've been so stupid! I should have figured it out a long time ago." He looked at Jack, "I just now figured something else out too. Sam talked in her sleep once. All she said was one word; it was "Sir". That's _you_ isn't it?" He asked Jack.

Now it was Sam who was at a loss for words. After a moment of silence Jack answered in a soft voice. "Yes. That would be me."

"So what happened to the Air Force's no fraternization rules?" Asked Mark.

"Oh, they're still there." Jack replied.

"We just found a way around them." Sam added helpfully. "Right after Dad died I was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base. We got married in Las Vegas while we weren't in the same chain of command."

"You're married!" Mark bellowed.

Pete visibly paled. "I told you when you broke it off with me that I hoped you would get everything you wanted. It looks like you did." He said bitterly.

April, Mark's wife had been watching the scene in silence and finally decided it was time for her to step in. She walked over to Mark and looked from him to Pete and back, then said "I can't believe you two are acting like this! Mark, you've known for a month that Sam and Pete had broken up. The two of you conspired to put Sam and her friends in this awkward situation and now you're blaming **_her_** for the position **_you_** put them in."

Now it was Sam's turn to be outraged. "You knew that Pete and I had broken up and you still invited him over here and then kept asking us when we were getting married?"

"I thought that you were making a mistake, Sam. I thought that if you saw Pete again that the two of you would get back together. I didn't know..."

"Wait." Pete said gently. "This is all my fault. Sam, I called Mark around Thanksgiving and asked him to help me...ah, get together with you. I'm sorry, it was a foolish thing to do."

There was an uncomfortable silence while everyone in the room looked at each other. Finally Pete spoke "You know Sam, you and General O'Neill just look **_right_** together." he paused briefly, " Kind of like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock."

Jack squinted and tilted his head slightly to one side before saying "I'm Kirk, right?"

Sam looked at Jack and said "You know, I always thought of us more like Bogie and Bacall."

"I prefer Rhett and Scarlett." Jack said.

"Rhett and Scarlett!" Sam said with indignation.

"Well, I see myself more as a Clark Gable type than a Humphrey Bogart."

"Uh, well, listen, I should be going." Pete stammered. "I'm sorry I messed up your holidays." He said sincerely.

"Pete, you didn't mess up our holidays." Sam said in earnest. "You're welcome to stay and have something to eat with us."

"Thanks, Sam, but I'm feeling pretty sheepish here, and I think it's best if I just go." He looked at Mark "Maybe the two of us can get together before you go back to San Diego."

"Yeah, I'll give you a call." Mark replied.

After Pete left, Mark apologized repeatedly for inviting him over. Sam and Jack accepted some of the blame as well since they hadn't told Mark that they were married.

"Sam I should have never called you and invited my family to your house for Christmas."

Just then Cassie and Mark's two kids came bounding in from outside covered from head to toe in snow.

Mark Junior shouted "Look, Dad, Cassie taught us how to make snow angels!"

"Well, then the trip was worth while!" Jack proclaimed.

Just then Teal'c and Daniel stepped into the room and Teal'c announced "The meal is ready. You must come and eat before it gets cold."

"Yeah, and then after we eat we're going to watch my favorite Christmas movie!" Daniel enthused.

"Oh, no!" groaned Cassie.

"Daniel Jackson, I did not know that Star Wars was a Christmas movie."

"No! Not Star Wars! _It's a Wonderful Life_!."

"It **_is_** a wonderful life." Jack whispered to Sam.

-x-x-x-


	28. Chapter 28

**Scenario 28**

A/N: At some point in time Sam is going to get injured. How will The Powers That Be handle that situation? Well, here's a suggestion for them.

-x-x-x-x-

SG1 and General Landry were seated around the conference table in the SGC while Doctor Daniel Jackson talked excitedly about some ancient ruins found by the Tok'ra on a planet designated P3R-989

It seemed that the writings on the ruins told of how the Ori had broken away from the rest of the Ancients and basically went "bad".

Daniel was enthusiastically pointing to a photo of the ruins being displayed on the screen "This writing here, while being partially obscured, seems to indicate that the Ancients were quite upset by the sect of the Ori and it is possible that there are instructions here on how to render the Ori ineffectual," He rattled out. "Anyway, General, I believe it is definitely worth getting a closer look."

"Very well, I will authorize a mission to P3R-989, but only for a few hours. Just long enough for you to get video of these ruins to bring back so that you can do your analysis in the safety of the SGC.". General Landry stood and quickly strode out of the briefing room.

"Thank you!" Daniel called after the man.

Two hours later SG1 stepped through the Stargate onto the world designated as P3R-989. The area around the stargate was bare and desolate. Sand dunes stretched in all directions and a warm dry breeze blew over the members of SG1 as they stood in their desert BDU's surveying their surroundings.

"Daniel, the UVA indicated that the ruins we are looking for are about 4 clicks south, southwest." Sam said.

"Ok, let's head out." Mitchell said cheerfully.

It took the members of SG1 just over an hour to reach the impressive ruins.

"This is definitely Ancient architecture," Daniel stated as he instantly withdrew his video camera and began taping.

"Teal'c and I will set up a perimeter while you and Jackson get the video footage you need. There's something creepy about this place so make it quick," Mitchell said to Sam.

Colonel Carter nodded to Colonel Mitchell and removed her own camera from her backpack to begin recording.

"While _creepy_ is not a word I would normally use, I must agree that there is something odd here and I do sense danger," Teal'c stated to Cameron Mitchell as the two set off to guard the perimeter.

After about 30 minutes of taping, Daniel suddenly took the camera away from his eye and moved in to get a closer look at some large distinctive writing on one of the stone pillars to the temple.

"Sam, come and look at this!"

"What is it Daniel?" Sam asked as she approached the archeologist.

"Well, this writing here appears to be a code to open an underground chamber." Daniel reached out to touch the pictograms.

"Daniel," Sam reached out and put her hand on his arm to stop him, "are you sure it's safe?"

"Well, as sure as I can be...I mean we really don't know what's here, but it does distinctly say that 'Secrets of the Origin lie within' followed by a series of numbers."

"Daniel, General Landry gave us specific orders to get video of the exterior..."

"Yeah, I know Sam." Daniel replied not looking at her, totally absorbed in studying the pictogram. He quickly reached out and touched the stones before Sam could stop him.

Suddenly a beam shot out from somewhere within the temple, hitting Sam squarely in the chest and tossing her across the temple like a rag doll. She crashed into a pillar and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

A glowing panel elevated itself from the ground and several different colored lights flashed on the control board. "Oh Crap!" Daniel exclaimed.

He rushed over to check on Sam. She had hit her head hard on the pillar and was bleeding profusely from a gash in the back of her head. Her hair was already matted with blood. Her breathing was shallow and as Daniel tried to move her into a better position she groaned and a trickle of blood came out of her mouth.

"Oh God, Sam, I'm so sorry! Hang in there!" He said to her unconscious form.

He keyed his radio. "Cameron! Teal'c! Sam's been hurt. I need help immediately!"

"Understood. We're on our way."

Two minutes later Cameron and Teal'c found Daniel in the temple. He had his shirt wrapped around Sam's head trying to control the bleeding.

"I'm sure she has a concussion and a couple broken ribs. I think the ribs punctured her right lung." He said. "And that's not all, apparently the Ancients booby trapped this place, that's how they were planning to take out the Ori. I accidentally set off their trap. It appears to be a bomb. This place is going to blow in about 15 minutes."

"We have no time to lose Daniel Jackson. We must get as far away from the temple as possible. I will carry Colonel Carter."

"Uh, yeah, right. As soon as we get far enough away maybe we can make a stretcher for her."

"Jackson, there's no time to talk about it! Let's get the hell outta here!"

The three men moved as quickly as possible while carrying an injured team member. After close to 14 minutes the team saw a large sand dune about 100 yards from their position.

"If we can make it to the other side of that dune, it should give us some protection from the blast." Mitchell stated.

"Yeah, unless what we've unleashed is some doomsday type bomb that's going to destroy the whole planet!" Daniel said gloomily.

"We don't have time to speculate. Come on! Hurry!"

Teal'c gently placed Colonel Carter down on the ground behind the protective sand dune and the three men lay down flat on the ground near her waiting for the blast.

A few seconds later there was an ear shattering explosion and the ground shook and roiled as if there had just been a major earthquake. When the team felt it was safe they checked Carter's vital signs again and then continued their trek to the Stargate.

Forty five minutes later they stepped through the event horizon back to the safety of the SGC.

"We need a medical team to the embarkation room immediately!" Colonel Mitchell shouted as soon as he stepped onto the ramp in the SGC.

Doctor Lam and two corpsmen were in the gateroom in seconds and had Sam on a gurney. They wheeled her quickly to the infirmary.

General Landry entered the gateroom and addressed the team "What went wrong?"

Daniel closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. "It was my fault, General."

"Explain."

"Well, I thought that there was an underground chamber to the temple, but when I tried to open it I triggered an energy beam that injured Sam and set off a self destruct sequence. The entire temple was a trap for the Ori and I set it off and blew it up. It no longer exists."

Landry looked sternly at the archeologist then nodded. "The three of you need to get checked out in the infirmary. We'll debrief in two hours."

Landry left the gateroom and Teal'c, Mitchell and Jackson headed for the infirmary.

After having his vitals checked and blood drawn, Daniel went to find out Sam's status.

He walked slowly up to her bed. She had wires and tubes seemingly everywhere, her head was bandaged and she had an IV in the back of her hand.

"How is she, Doc?" Daniel asked softly.

"Broken ribs, internal bleeding, punctured lung, concussion, hairline skull fracture, and she lost quite a bit of blood. She's in very serious condition."

"Will she...uh,...live?"

"The next 24 hours will be crucial. If she makes it through the night, she should make it."

Daniel took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Call me if there's any change in her condition."

Doctor Lam nodded.

-x-x-x-

Cameron, Teal'c and Daniel sat around the conference table for the second time that day.

"Doctor Jackson, did you and Colonel Carter get video of the writings on the walls of the temple on 989?" General Landry asked.

"Not all of it, but yeah, we got most of it."

"You believe this temple was a trap for the Ori and they were supposed to be lured into it and then would accidentally set off the self destruct just as you did?"

"Yes, I think the ancients were trying to prevent the Ori from getting a strong foothold in the galaxy."

"Well, this booby trapped temple would have only taken out a few of their numbers, isn't that correct?" Landry asked.

"General Landry, from what we observed of this temple, I believe that the Ancients built several of these traps throughout the galaxy. They were counting on the Ori's great desire to be worshiped." Teal'c explained.

"So, Teal'c can you assist Doctor Jackson in deciphering the writing on the walls of this particular temple to find out if there are others out there?"

Teal'c nodded and Daniel mumbled something about getting right on it. General Landry told the group they were dismissed and headed for his office.

Daniel stopped the General at the door to his office.

"Ah,...General, has anyone notified Jack about Sam's condition yet?"

General Landry frowned at the archeologist "I know that General O'Neill used to be a member of SG1, but do you really think we need to bother him in Washington to let him know that a former teammate has been injured?"

"Um, General, I know I'm not suppose to tell you this, but Sam and Jack are, uh... married. That's General O'Neill's **_wife_** that's in critical condition in the infirmary."

General Landry's eyes got wide as he stood staring at Daniel for a beat before he said "Use the red phone on my desk. Direct line to the Pentagon."

Daniel nodded, went into Landry's office and picked up the red phone. When the operator in Washington picked up on the first ring Daniel said "This is the SGC. Put me through to General O'Neill immediately."

"O'Neill."

"Jack, it's me, Daniel."

"Daniel, what are you doing calling me on this line?"

"Jack, Sam was hurt off world. She's in critical condition. I think you should be here."

Jack closed his eyes and blew out a breath. This was the phone call that he feared getting ever since Sam went back to the SGC. After a few seconds he said softly "I'm on my way."

Jack hung up the phone and went to his outer office. "Mrs. Miller clear my schedule for the rest of the day and for tomorrow as well."

His secretary looked at him questioningly.

"My wife has been in an accident and I need to be with her."

"General, I didn't know you were married," The woman said.

"Yeah, well, ... I gotta go now." Jack hurried from the room.

Outside he got into his government issued sedan and drove to his apartment in Alexandria. Jack parked the car and hurried to his apartment. He silently thanked Thor for the wedding present as he went to the bedroom and touched the transportation stone the Agard had given him and Sam.

A few seconds later Jack appeared in the bedroom of the house he shared with Sam in Colorado Springs. He went out to the garage, got into his truck and pulled out of the driveway.

90 minutes after he had received the call from Daniel, Jack was in the SCG headed for the infirmary.

Daniel was sitting in a chair beside Sam's bed holding her hand. "Daniel, how is she?"

"Oh, Jack, I didn't hear you," Daniel said as he released Sam's hand and stood up. "Um, the same. Doctor Lam says she's critical but stable. She thinks if she makes it through the night she'll recover."

Jack nodded solemnly and walked over to stand beside his wife's bed. He looked down at her pale face for a moment before taking her hand. "I'm here, Sam," he whispered.

"Jack,..." Daniel interrupted. "There's something I have to tell you...um,... this is my fault."

"Daniel..." Jack said in a tone that said _I don't want to hear this_.

"No, Jack really. She warned me not to try to open this chamber, but I was excited about it and...well, I didn't listen to her. As soon as I touched the pictograms Sam was hit with some type of beam weapon that picked her up and literally threw her across the temple."

Jack let go of Sam's hand and turned around to look at Daniel. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, then looked at the archeologist again. "Daniel, it's not your fault."

"But Jack..."

"Daniel," Jack said in a warning tone that the younger man knew very well.

Daniel blew out at breath and looked down at the floor. A second later he looked up at Jack. "I'll be in my lab helping Teal'c if you need me."

Jack nodded and watched as Daniel left the infirmary. He pulled up the chair to be closer to Sam, sat down and again took her hand.

"General O'Neill."

Jack looked up to see Doctor Lam standing beside Sam's bed.

"How is she doc?" he asked.

"Critical, but stable. We're doing everything we can."

Jack nodded and the doctor walked away to leave him alone with Sam.

Jack didn't know how long he had been sitting in the chair beside Sam's bed when General Landry walked up.

"Why didn't you tell me, Jack?"

"Tell you what, Hank?"

"About you and Colonel Carter."

"What's there to tell?"

"Oh, come on, Jack! Doctor Jackson filled me in. Why didn't you tell me that you and the Colonel are married."

"She didn't want anyone to know," Jack said softly. "She was afraid she would receive preferential treatment because she's married to me. Or worse yet, she was afraid that people wouldn't credit her with any of her achievements. That people would just assume that she _slept_ her way to the top. You gotta know, Hank, that for Carter that's absolutely the worst thing that could happen to her."

Hank nodded his head in silent understanding. After a time General Landry said "I've contacted the Tok'ra. They are sending someone here with one of their hand-held healing devices."

Jack looked around surreptitiously then quietly said to the General. "You didn't do that because she's my wife did you?"

"Jack, how many times has she saved the world?"

Jack gave a slight shrug. "More times than I can remember."

"Right. I'm not doing it for you. The world needs her."

"Thanks."

General Landry put his hand on Jack's shoulder "You're welcome," he said with a smile and then left Jack alone as he went to talk to Doctor Lam.

"O'Neill." The sound of the Jaffa's voice woke Jack from a restless sleep. He didn't know how long he had been dozing in the chair.

"Oh, hi, Teal'c," he said.

"O'Neill, you must get some rest. I will sit with Samantha and call you if she wakes up."

"Uh, thanks T, but I think I should be here with her."

"O'Neill, you need rest. I will call you when she awakens."

"Yeah, right. Ok," Jack said as he wearily got up from his chair.

"Unscheduled off world activation," boomed through the mountain and klaxons began to blare.

"That could be the Tok'ra," Jack said "Stay with her."

Teal'c nodded and Jack rushed from the infirmary to the gate control room. General Landry was already there when Jack entered.

"Receiving IDC, Sir. It's the Tok'ra," stated Walter.

"Open the iris," Commanded Landry.

The iris churned open revealing the shimmering blue event horizon. Suddenly it rippled and Malik stepped through onto the ramp.

Jack hurried down to the gate room to greet the Tok'ra. "Hey, good to see you. Did General Landry explain the situation to you?"

"Yes, O'Neill. He did. I will be glad to do whatever I can for Colonel Carter."

Malik followed General O'Neill out of the gateroom to the infirmary. Once there he removed the healing device from its case and held the object over Sam with both hands. The healing instrument began to glow and Malik slowly moved the device back and forth, holding it about a foot and a half above her body.

After a few minutes Malik stated "It is working. I feel health returning to her."

Another minute went by before the healing device stopped glowing. "I believe that Colonel Carter will be able to heal on her own now,"

Sam's eyes fluttered open and she looked around the group of people standing over her. She recognized Malik, but wondered why he was there. Teal'c, Doctor Lam, Daniel, Jack, Cameron, and General Landry were all looking down at her.

She licked her dry lips "Sir?"

But it was Daniel who responded "Um,...Sam, do you remember telling me not to touch those pictograms on P3R-989?"

"Ah, yeah..."

"Well, do you remember the beam weapon hitting you and tossing you across the temple?"

She closed her eyes. "I do now," she said as she reopened her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sam," Daniel said with true regret in his voice.

"It's ok, Daniel."

"I must take my leave of you, now," stated Malik.

"I'll walk you to the gateroom," offered General Landry.

"Ok, everybody out!" Ordered Doctor Lam. "I need to run some tests, get new x-rays, check her blood work...I'll let you know when you can come back and see her."

"Ok. Listen, I'm really sorry, Sam."

"Daniel, it's ok."

Teal'c nodded to Sam and said "Daniel, we need to return to our work."

"Oh, yeah. Ok. See ya later, Sam. Come on Cameron." The three members of SG1 left the infirmary together.

After everyone was gone Jack said "I'll be here when Doctor Lam gets done with you."

"Thanks, Jack."

-x-x-x-


	29. Chapter 29

**Scenario 29**

**Felger and Chloe**

A/N Thanks to Ilovesg1 for the inspiration for this scenario. I hope you enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was engrossed in her work at the SGC when she heard a knock on the door to her lab. The door was open and Sam looked up to see an attractive young woman in a lab coat standing there.

"Yes?" Sam asked.

The woman stepped into the lab "Colonel Carter, I need to speak to you." The woman's tone was clipped and Sam thought she seemed quite agitated, even a bit angry.

"Um...Chloe, isn't it? Aren't you Doctor Felger's assistant?"

"Yes. And that's what I've come to talk to you about."

The woman seemed more than angry, Sam thought she was pissed about something.

"Ok,...is Doctor Felger,... um... bothering you or something?"

"No! No, it's nothing like that! It's you! Everything was fine when you were engaged to that cop. Then you went away to Area 51 and things were great! Now you're back and Jay says you've come back because of him!"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I'm here to tell you, Miss Gorgeous Body, Lieutenant Colonel, Brilliant Scientist, to lay off! JJ is mine!" The woman nearly shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked in confusion.

"JJ has been ignoring me ever since you got back to the SGC! He says that the two of you are _involved_. Jay is _mine_! And I'm going to _fight_ to keep him!" Chloe was close to tears now.

"Just a minute! First of all, Felger has an overactive imagination. There is **_nothing_** between us and there never has been! Second, I'm MARRIED!"

Chloe's mouth popped open, her eyes got wide as she stood there staring at Samantha Carter. When she finally recovered her voice she said "I thought you broke up with that cop. How do I know you're not just saying this so that you and Jay can continue to have an affair without my knowledge?"

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud!" Sam exclaimed as she pulled her dogtag chain out from under her black t-shirt. As much as she wanted to wear the beautiful wedding ring Jack had given her, it was a safety hazard at work. Sam took the ring carefully off the dogtag chain and placed on the ring finger of her left hand.

"Come on!" She said to Chloe as she started out of the lab.

"Where are we going?"

"To see Felger, of course!"

Doctor Jay Felger was sitting on a stool with his back to the lab door when Sam and Chloe entered. He was holding a test tube up to a light and peering intently at the amber colored liquid substance in the vial.

"Felger!" Sam said in her most commanding, military voice.

Jay was so startled he dropped the test tube which instantly shattered.

"Um,...ah...Colonel Carter! What a surprise! What brings you up to my lab?" He asked nervously.

Sam took several steps toward Felger as she said "There appears to be a rumor going around the SGC about us and you seem to be the source of the rumor!"

"What?"

"The rumor I heard is that you and I are having an affair."

"Well,...um,...I..."

"Just let me set the record straight, Felger. I'm married." Sam held up her left hand to show him the ring. "My husband won't like it if he finds out you're spreading rumors about you and me having an affair. In fact," she said calmly "If General O'Neill _believes_ the rumors, well I'm sure you realize what he is capable of..."

Jay Felger visibly paled. "You're married to General O'Neill?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"Yes. There's something else Felger. You see this beautiful young woman here?" Sam indicated Chloe and Felger nodded apprehensively. "She loves you, Jay." Sam said softy.

Jay looked from Sam to Chloe, unable to wrap his mind around what Colonel Carter had just told him.

"It's true, Jay," Chloe said gently.

"Really?" He asked, his voice cracking.

"Really," she replied.

Jay got off the stool he was sitting on and moved uncertainly toward Chloe. "You really love me?" he asked again.

"I have for years, Jay."

"I never knew."

Sam choose that moment to sneak out of Felger's lab. Just as she exited the laboratory she ran into Daniel.

"Sam, what are you doing up here in Felger's lab?"

"Oh, just setting the record straight. You wanna get some cake?" She asked the archeologist.

"You've definitely been around Jack too long," Daniel stated as the two headed for the commissary.

-x-x-x-


	30. Chapter 30 Ripple Effect

_**Vignette 30**_

_**Ripple Effect**_

A/N: For this vignette no one, not even Daniel, knows about Sam and Jack Spoilers for Ripple Effect.

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After the last SG1 from an alternate reality finally stepped through the event horizon back to their own dimension, General Landry breathed a sigh of relief.

"No offense people," he began, "but, I've seen enough Carters, Mitchells, Teal'cs and Jacksons to last me for quite some time!" With that General Landry left the gate control room and headed to the sanctuary of his office.

"Well, that was rude!" Stated Daniel.

"I do not believe so, Daniel Jackson. I, too, have seen enough of us for a while. I will be returning to Da'kara within the hour."

Teal'c bowed to his friends and left the control room to prepare to return to the Free Jaffa.

"So, anybody want to go to the commissary with me?" Asked Mitchell.

"Um, no, I just want to get back to my lab...by myself," Sam said as she also left the control room.

Mitchell looked expectantly at Daniel.

"Ah,...I um, have stuff to do. See ya later".

Daniel hurried out of the control room leaving Mitchell standing alone. The archeologist did not go to his own lab, however. Instead he followed Sam to hers. He was overflowing with curiosity.

Daniel stepped into the lab that Sam shared with Doctor Lee and looked around clandestinely to make sure the civilian Doctor was not there. When Doctor Lee was nowhere to be seen, Daniel stepped into the lab.

"Hey, Sam."

"Daniel, Hi. What's up?"

"Oh, nothin' much," he said as he looked around for something to pick up and investigate.

"So...um,...why are you here?"

"Just curious."

"About what?"

Daniel pulled up a stool and sat down close to Sam. Then in a conspiratorial tone asked "So, how many of those Sams did you talk to?"

"Well, briefly, to all of them. Why?"

"The first one that came through the gate, the Bad Carter, well, the Bad Teal'c told me that she had just come back from her honeymoon."

Sam's eyebrows shot up and she looked closely at Daniel. "Who did she marry?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you knew."

"I didn't even know she was married."

"Do you suppose there's a Bad Pete in her reality or do you think she's married to a Bad Jack?"

"I don't know!" Sam said in a frustrated tone. She wasn't sure she liked where this conversation was going.

"Ok...so what about the Sam from Janet and Martouf's reality? Janet said she was on maternity leave. Who's _she_ married to?"

This time Sam blushed and looked around for something to distract her from the conversation. Finally she looked back at Daniel and said "I asked Martouf about her."

"And..." Daniel prompted.

"Well, it seems that Martouf joined the SGC so that he and Sam could be together. He said that he and Sam had lived together for awhile, but it didn't work out."

"So, did Martouf say who she married?"

"No. We were interrupted by another SG1 coming through the gate." Sam looked down at her hands, wondering if she should tell Daniel the rest. She looked up at him and said "Janet told me."

"Ok, well..."

She shrugged. "It's Jack."

"Is there any reality besides this one where you **_aren't_** with Jack?"

Sam looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with Daniel. After a moment she fixed her eyes on Doctor Jackson.

"Um,... Daniel, Jack and I are together in **_this_** reality too."

"**_What!_** How come you never told me?"

"Well, it still isn't exactly legal. Technically, I'm still in Jack's chain of command because he is the Head of Homeworld Security and the SGC falls under his command and..."

"Sam!"

"Daniel! Nobody knows and you can't tell anyone either. I shouldn't have told you."

"Yes, you should have! I'm your friend and something like this is not something you should try to keep secret by yourself."

Sam squinted a little, turned her head slightly to one side and said "Daniel, that didn't make a lot of sense."

"Ok, yeah, well, if other people know it's not a secret, but I will keep your secret until you're ready to tell the world."

"Thanks, Daniel," she said as she patted his arm.

"So, do you think Mitchell has cleared out of the commissary yet?" He asked.

"I hope so, because I'm hungry and I don't want to hear that story about the orange juice again."

"You heard that one too?" Daniel asked.

"At least three times."

"You poor thing. Come on, let's go." Daniel started to lead Sam out of the lab and then turned around to ask "So, are you and Jack just dating or are you married?"

"Daniel!"

-x-x-x-


	31. Chapter 31 Ripple Effect 2

_**Scenario 31**_

_**Ripple Effect 2**_

A/N: Ripple Effect gave me a lot to think about and one particular scene has been bothering me; when Sam almost kissed Martouf. Even my husband, a self proclaimed NON shipper, was shouting at the TV "Don't do it, Sam!" So, what was that Martouf thing all about anyway? Here's my version. CAUTION: Spoilers for Ripple Effect.

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Once all the alternate reality Carters, Mitchells, Jacksons and Teal'cs were safely back in their own realities Samantha Carter took a deep breath and finally had a chance to think about all that had transpired over the past few days. Above all else, she irrationally wished that the alternate Janet could have stayed in her reality. She could really use someone to talk to.

Sam sighed and distractedly took a sip of her rapidly cooling coffee. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear Doctor Jackson come into her lab.

"Hey, Sam," he said softly, hoping he wouldn't startle her. She jumped anyway. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's ok, Daniel, come on in."

Daniel entered the lab and pulled up a stool next to Sam. "I thought maybe you'd like to talk about all this alternate reality stuff," he began.

Sam studied his face for a moment. "Yeah, I would. Thanks."

"Ok,...um...well, where do you want to begin?"

"With Martouf."

"What? I thought you might want to talk about Janet, or speculate on who the other Sams were married to or dating, but Martouf?"

"Yeah, it's been really bugging me."

"Why?"

Sam let out a big breath then looked into Daniel's eyes. "He told me that he joined the SGC to be close to me and that we had even lived together for awhile."

"Ok...considering what you two shared I can see that happening in a reality where Martouf didn't die. So what's the problem?"

"Well, Daniel, I always wondered if there ever could have been something between Martouf and me."

"So, did things work out for the two of you in the other reality?"

"No. Martouf hinted that there was someone else that I cared about and I couldn't give 100 percent of myself to him."

"Jack." Daniel said flatly.

Sam nodded.

"So, why are you spending so much time thinking about Martouf?" Daniel asked.

Sam looked around nervously before she ultimately decided to tell the truth. "I almost kissed him, Daniel."

Daniel looked confused. "So?"

"I don't mean a friendly kiss on the cheek, I mean...I nearly...I, ah..."

"Oh," Daniel said, sparing her any further embarrassment.

"What's going on, Daniel? Jack and I finally get a chance to be together after **_nine_** years and everybody who's **ever** been interested in me suddenly appears in my life. Agent Barrett tried to ask me out..."

"And you firmly turned him down."

"Then Orlin shows up..."

"As a **_child!_**"

"Yeah, but he said he still had feelings for me."

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"And now Martouf, who's been dead for 5 years! I'm expecting Narim to walk through the gate at any moment!"

"Sam, you're over reacting. First of all did you ever think that maybe your reaction to Martouf was partly because you were the one who was forced to kill him?"

Sam's eyes got wide. "Wow, Daniel, I never thought about that possibility."

"And you said that you always wondered if there could have been anything between the two of you. Maybe you just wanted to find out. The fact that this Martouf was from an alternate reality made it safe for you to explore the possibility. You knew he couldn't stay here."

"I suppose you're right..."

"Look," Daniel continued "you almost made the biggest mistake of your life with Pete and maybe you're just a little gun shy now."

The two sat in silence a moment before Daniel tried to lighten the mood by asking "So, the evil twin thing is getting pretty old for you huh?"

"Ya Think? It didn't take any great imagination to realize that we **_all _**had evil twins! Maybe there was never a repli-Carter in their reality so they didn't think we would figure it out that easily."

After a brief pause Sam asked "So, Daniel, did you find out anything interesting about your alter egos?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, one of me is married to Janet, another one of me is married to Sarah..."

"Osiris Sarah?"

"Yeah, after the symbiote was removed of course."

"Of course."

"And then in another reality I'm gay and Jack and I are in a relationship!"

"**_What!"_** Sam started to laugh.

"Hey! Don't laugh, you and Janet are together in **_that _**reality!"

"Eww! Yuck!"

"Yeah, I thought you might feel better about your life if I told you that!"

"Oh, get out of here!" She laughed as she made shooing motions toward Daniel. "I'm going to call Jack!"

Sam picked up the phone and started to dial, anxious to hear Jack's voice, when Daniel stopped at the doorway and said "Just remember Sam, don't ask, don't tell!"

-x-x-x-


	32. Chapter 32 R and R

**Scenario 32**

**Rest and Relaxation**

A/N: This is not exactly a crossover, but I got the idea from watching the Atlantis Episode "Grace Under Pressure". I have wanted to write a vignette featuring Rodney McKay and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. He's actually pretty fun to write! Hope you enjoy. Spoilers for Stargate Atlantis episode "Grace Under Pressure".

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While on a test flight in Jumper six, something went terribly wrong causing the ship to crash into the ocean and sink. Griffin and McKay were the only people on board. After a heroic effort by the Atlantis team, Doctor Rodney McKay was rescued from his watery tomb in the nick of time by Lieutenant Colonel Shepperd and Doctor Zelenka. Once back safely on Atlantis, Rodney was admitted to the infirmary, suffering from hypothermia and a sever concussion.

After fully recovering from his injuries, McKay went to see Doctor Weir.

"Elizabeth."

"What is it, Rodney."

"You know I never ask for anything for myself, and I know this place will probably fall apart completely if I'm not here for awhile, but after my near death experience, I really need some R and R back on Earth, so, I was wondering if I could go back with the Daedalus and spend a week on Earth."

"Rodney, for me to give you one week of leave on Earth means that you'll be gone from Atlantis for five weeks!"

"You're wrong. First of all, while it will take two weeks to get to Earth on the Daedalus, since we now have the Zeb P. M. I can gate back to Atlantis so I will only be gone three weeks. I know this place will go to hell in a hand basket if I'm not here, but this is really important to me, Elizabeth. After all, I nearly died out there because I was the only one willing to go along on the test flight and..."

"Alright, Rodney, you can have five days on Earth, but that's all." Elizabeth Weir turned to walk away from the scientist.

"Wait! Did you say five days on Earth?"

Weir turned around to look at the doctor. "Yes, Rodney, five days is all I'm willing to give you. The Daedalus leaves tomorrow."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Rodney hurried off to pack for his trip.

After the impossibly boring and tedious two week trip to Earth, Doctor Rodney McKay finally beamed into the gate room at the SGC. Rodney had expected to be received with pomp and circumstance instead of several armed Marines pointing rifles at him.

The order to stand down was given by General Landry who then welcomed several members of the Daedalus crew as well as a few other civilians from Atlantis to Earth. After being cleared through the medical department Rodney made a beeline for Samantha Carter's lab.

McKay dropped his suitcase inside the door of Sam's lab, walked straight toward the Colonel, grabbed her by the shoulders and attempted to kiss her full on the mouth.

Samantha Carter pulled back and turned her head causing McKay to plant a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

"McKay, what the hell are you doing!" She nearly shouted as she twisted out of his grip. "And what in the hell are you doing **_here_**? Why aren't you in Atlantis?"

"I came here to thank you for saving my life, Sam!"

"Are you delusional? I didn't save your life!"

"But you did save my life! Well, technically, I saved my life, but I had a sever concussion and my subconscious mind took on your personality and talked to me, helping me make the right decisions which ultimately saved my life! If I didn't know you as well as I do my subconscious could not have used you to get to me and I would have died, so, essentially you saved my life."

"You're creeping me out, McKay."

"Sam, I came here all the way from Atlantis to thank you!"

"You're welcome. Now, get out."

"Such a kidder. You know there has always been this chemistry between us..."

"I thought that was astrophysics, not chemistry," she interupted.

He continued nonplused. "So, I think it is time to finally act on these feelings we have for each other."

"What feelings? Loathing?"

Rodney reached out quickly with both his hands and grabbed one of Sam's hands before she could pull away.

"I've got five days on Earth. Let's go out! We could start with dinner and dancing..."

Sam pulled her hand away from him. "McKay, I'm not going out with you!"

"How come we never hooked up before?"

"What, aside from the fact that you're petty, arrogant and treat people badly?"

"Wow!"

"What?"

"That's exactly what you said to me on the jumper!"

"I was never on the jumper!"

"I know, I know! But it just shows how well I know you! We really belong together, Sam. You do find me attractive, I mean physically." Rodney moved closer to Sam and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't even think it, McKay!"

He stopped just short of pulling her into another hug, but was standing mere inches from her. Rodney studied her for a moment and then said "What the hell!" He grabbed her and tried to kiss her again and she quickly turned her head and grimaced.

"Uh, Sam, could you take a look at this translation..." Daniel was engrossed in looking at a book as he entered her lab. He looked up, saw McKay and Carter in an embrace, stopped short and asked "What's going on here?"

"Daniel, thank god!" Sam exclaimed as she slipped out of McKay's grip and moved over to stand beside the archeologist. "McKay was in some kind of accident a few weeks ago which apparently included a head injury. Anyway, he was hallucinating and...um... I helped save him. He came here to thank me in person."

Daniel looked at McKay and said "Why didn't you just send a thank you on the data stream?"

"And let everyone know that it was my subconscious mind in the form of Samantha Carter that saved me?"

"Oh, yes, well, it is** _so_ **much more subtle to just show up at the SGC and attempt to make out with Sam in her lab!"

"It's not like that! And why am I explaining this to you anyway?"

Daniel looked at Sam and said "Does he know about...?"

"No." She shook her head.

"You wanna tell him or should I?"

"Tell me what!" The irritated McKay interjected.

"Go ahead, Daniel." Sam replied calmly.

"Well, it seems a lot of people have been interested in Sam lately. Let's see, there was Agent Barrett, Orlin, Martouf..."

"Martouf? I thought he was dead."

"The point is, Sam is married."

"What? I thought you broke up with that cop!"

"I did."

"Well then, who are you married to?"

Sam got an evil little grin on her face, looked at McKay and let him squirm for a moment before she said with a smile "General O'Neill."

"WHAT! That's not possible! You have _**got**_ to be kidding me!"

"She's not kidding, Rodney."

"Listen, Rodney," Sam began in a softer voice, "you have been through a traumatic experience, believe me, I know what it's like." She exchanged a knowing glance with Daniel and continued. "The point is, Doctor Weir recognized just how serious the situation was or she would have never allowed you to come back to Earth. Don't waste your time here, go to Canada and see your family."

Rodney stood staring at Sam and Daniel for a moment before he said "_**Jack**_ O'Neill? **_That_** General O'Neill? He is a dolt! What could you possibly see in him. Now granted, you are not quite my intellectual equal, but you're close. I can't imagine being with someone as intellectually inferior as Jack O'Neill..."

As Rodney continued his tirade, Sam rolled her eyes. "Goodbye Rodney." She looked at Daniel and said "Lunch?"

Daniel nodded in the affirmative and the two members of SG1 walked out of the lab leaving Rodney McKay standing there mumbling to himself about the completely impossible situation.

Once in the hallway Sam said with a smile, "I can't wait to tell Jack about this one!"

-x-x-x-


	33. Chapter 33

**Off the Grid**

**Missing Scene**

A/N: Is it just me, or is Cameron Mitchell an idiot?

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"We have got the best jobs in the world!" Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell exclaimed to no one in particular.

"I'm gonna hit the showers," Sam said as she walked away.

"Yeah,... I'm gonna find a doctor." Daniel stated as he also left the embarkation room.

At the post mission briefing General Landry had been brought up to speed on the disposition of the stolen stargates, the Lucian Alliance and all that SG1 had been through over the past few days. The one thing he was **_not _**told was that it was Cameron Mitchell's "plan" that nearly got them all killed.

As soon as the briefing was over Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter headed for her lab, intending to grab her laptop, some notes and head straight home.

"Hey! Sam! Wait up." Called Colonel Mitchell.

She stopped and turned to look at him with a less than happy expression on her face.

"What is it Cameron?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could have a team night tonight. You know, grab a pizza, watch an Indiana Jones movie..."

"I don't think so." Sam replied curtly and walked off toward her lab.

"Jackson!"

_Damn!_ Daniel thought,_ I am not in the mood for this_. "What is it Mitchell?"

"What's up with Sam lately? I thought she practically lived at the SGC before her time at Area 51."

"Well, she's just a little pissed off at you right now."

"Pissed at **_me_**? Why?"

"Because you did something really stupid and nearly got us all killed."

"Whadda ya mean? Getting into trouble and escaping with your lives at the last second is what SG1 has always done."

"No, it's not. We always **_consulted _**with each other. We made the best decision we could based on the information we had. One of us didn't go off half cocked with some stupid plan that the others didn't know about, and weren't consulted on, and then nearly end up dead **_twice_** because of said stupid plan." Before Cameron had a chance to form a reply, Daniel Jackson hurried off to his own lab thankful to be alive.

Forty five minutes after the briefing ended Sam unlocked the door to her house, stepped inside and breathed a sigh of relief. She went directly to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. She popped it open, picked up her phone, hit "two" on the speed dial and went to sit on the couch.

"O'Neill" The familiar voice at the other end answered.

"Hi, Jack."

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Sam, I know you."

"Has Landry called to fill you in on the stolen stargate fiasco yet?"

"Yes..."

"Well, did he mention how close we came to death?"

"Uh,... he said that the Odyssey used the new implants to beam you to safety and then you gated home."

"Yeah, well, that's not the whole story."

"What happened, Sam?" There was genuine concern in the General's voice.

"Cam came up with some stupid harebrained idea that he was going to make contact with the people who were selling the kassa, you know, the drugged corn? The problem was that he didn't consult with Daniel, Teal'c or me, he just went off on his own and ended up getting us all captured and nearly killed. SG1 is suppose to be a **_team_** but he seems to think it's fun to nearly get ourselves killed every week!" The frustration was evident in Sam's voice and, while she didn't want to seem like she was whining and complaining to the head of Homeworld Security, she **_did_** want to vent her frustrations to an understanding husband.

"So, Cam isn't working out so well...?"

"It's not that, Jack. It's just that he doesn't quite understand the **_team_** concept."

"You want me to have a talk with General Landry about it?"

"Oh, god, no, Jack! I know that Daniel and Teal'c are working on him and I'm sure that eventually he'll figure it out."

"And the last thing you want is for your husband to pull any strings for you." He said lightheartedly.

"That's right, Jack," she said with a smile.

"Even though no one knows we're married."

"The President knows," she teased "and besides it will come out eventually."

"So, how close was it this time, Sam?" He asked in a serious tone.

"Another 10 seconds and instead of this phone conversation you would have had a fresh faced Lieutenant standing at your door with a telegram from the DOD."

General O'Neill closed his eyes and blew out a breath.

"Jack..."

"I know, Sam."

There was silence on the line for a moment and then Jack said "I love you, Sam."

"I love you too, Jack."

"Listen, Sam, I know we agreed that we would just see each other on the weekends, but since I called in that marker from Thor and we have the transporter stones, I'm coming home tonight. I have a few more things to finish up here at the office and then I'll be home. I'll see you in a couple hours."

"Thanks, Jack. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah. Bye." Jack hung up the phone, closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. It had been hard when he was in charge of the SGC to send Sam out on missions, but nothing like this. He was thousands of miles away and she was his **_wife_**. He didn't know he could feel this helpless and vulnerable.

General O'Neill quickly finished up the rest of his paperwork and then left the office for his small apartment in Alexandria. He didn't even bother to change out of his uniform, but went directly to the bedroom where he had installed the transportation stone that Thor had given him and Sam as a wedding present. He touched the stone and in a flash of light was transported to Sam's bedroom in Colorado Springs.

"Hi, Honey, I'm Home!" He said in his best imitation of a 60's sitcom dad as he stepped out into the hallway.

Sam appeared almost instantly and threw her arms around his neck. "I am so glad to see you!" She said before he put his hands on her face and kissed her.

"Not as glad as I am to see you," he said between kisses.

"I love you, Jack," she said.

"I love you, too. Always."

-x-x-x-


	34. Chapter 34

_**Scourge**_

_**Episode Tag**_

A/N: I am operating under the assumption that, with what TPTB gave us last season in Threads and Mobius, and the few little hints that they have dropped this season, that Sam and Jack are married. At least in **_my_** reality. So these episode tags are just my suggestions of how the TPTB can let us shippers know the truth!

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Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter rang the bell to Cameron Mitchell's apartment at 1905, just five minutes late.

"Hey, you're late!" Cameron said as he opened the door.

"Sorry." She said as she handed him a cold 12 pack of Guinness.

"Well, come on in, everyone else is here already." Cameron held the door open for her and she entered his large, well kept apartment.

"Hey, Sam," Daniel greeted her. "We ordered pepperoni and meat lovers pizzas. Hope that's ok."

"Yeah, fine, Daniel."

"Greetings, Samantha." Teal'c nodded and smiled at the Colonel.

"Hey, Teal'c," she said as she patted him on the arm.

"Well, come on, everyone get comfortable, we've got a movie to watch!" Cameron exclaimed as he hit the play button on the remote and the opening sequence for Star Ship Troopers began.

"I can't believe you really rented this movie!" Sam said to Cameron as she made herself comfortable in the easy chair.

"Mitchell has informed me that the movie is humourous," Teal'c stated.

"Umm, yeah, well, we'll let you be the judge of that," Daniel said.

About 15 minutes into the movie Sam's cell phone rang. She looked around the group apologetically as she quickly answered the call. "Carter." She said into the device.

"Hey, sexy!" The warm baritone voice of General Jack O'Neill greeted her.

"Oh, Hi," she said, trying not to let on to the rest of the group how happy she was to get his phone call.

"Oh, hi? I haven't seen you for almost a month and all I get is an Oh, hi! Don't tell, me...movie night at Mitchell's right?"

"Yep!"

"What movie did he pick out?"

"Star Ship Troopers."

"You've gotta be kidding me! After your little adventure on the Gamma site?"

"Well, he thought it would be funny."

"Yeah...that sounds like his sense of humor..."

Sam was noticing that her team mates were starting to give her curious looks, but she certainly didn't want to cut short a call from Jack.

"Hold on just a second," she said to Jack then to the group she said "excuse me for just a minute. You don't have to stop the movie for me, I'll be right back."

She went out to Cameron's kitchen where she could continue her conversation with Jack in relative solitude.

"Ok, I'm in Cameron's kitchen so we can talk now," she said into the phone.

"So, I guess phone sex is still out of the question though?"

"Jack!"

"Alright, alright. Actually, I had a real reason for calling, not just that I wanted to hear your voice. You made quite an impression on Woolsey."

"Oh, great," she said sounding dejected.

"No, it's not bad. He was very impressed with you and specifically how you handled the situation on the Gamma site. He said the members of the IOA counsel were pretty whiney, but you just stuck to your guns and did what needed to be done to get everybody home safe. He said if it hadn't been for you he thinks everyone would have died on that planet."

"Really? He said that about me?"

"Yeah, in fact they were all impressed with you. It was really hard for me not to say 'well, you know that Carter's my wife, right?' I don't say it too often, but I'm really proud of you, Sam."

Samantha Carter felt herself blush and pushed back the urge to let a few tears roll down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Jack. I'm proud of you, too."

"Uh, yeah, well, I'll let you get back to your movie before you arouse suspicion. We're still good for next weekend right?"

"You betcha! Unless the Pentagon decides to send SG1 on another babysitting mission!"

"Oh, I don't think that's gonna happen!"

"Goodnight, Jack. I love you."

"I love you too."

She hung up the phone and decided to give herself a moment to school her features before returning to the movie. She figured that it wouldn't be much of a stretch for Teal'c and Daniel to figure out who she was talking to, but she knew they could be trusted. Mitchell was such a loose cannon that she really didn't want him finding out about her and Jack.

Sam walked quickly back into the living room and took her seat in the easy chair.

"Who was that?" Daniel inquired.

"Just a friend," she replied without looking at him.

Sam felt Teal'c looking at her and she looked up and met his eyes. He gave her a small smile and a slight nod. No one else noticed, but Sam knew that Teal'c knew the truth and that he was pleased for his friends.

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	35. Cameron Learns a Thing or Two

_**Cameron Learns a Thing or Two**_

A/N: We are almost to the end of season 9 and TPTB **_still_** haven't told us whether Sam and Jack got together or not! So, here's another scene suggestion to let Daniel, Teal'c, Cameron and the fans know the status of Sam and Jack's relationship.

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It had been five weeks since Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter had spent a weekend with her husband, Major General Jack O'Neill. They had joked about getting Asgard transportation stones from Thor, but the reality was that they had to travel the same way other Americans did - either by commercial air or MAC flights. Since commercial flights offered more choices and times that fit their schedules better, that was the route they usually took.

It was Friday, and Sam had gotten permission from General Landry to leave the base at noon. After changing into civvies, she drove directly to the airport in Denver. By the time she parked the truck and found Jack's arrival gate it was a little after 1400 hours.

Sam checked her watch then looked at an arrival monitor to see if Jack's flight was on time. The monitor showed that flight 697 from Dulles was on time and would be arriving at gate 36 at 1515.

With slightly over an hour to wait, Sam went to Starbucks, got a cup of coffee and had a seat at one of the small tables. She passed the time by reading a book, but kept checking her watch and had trouble focusing on what she was reading.

Finally, it was time to head to the gate to meet Jack. She didn't have to wait long as the General was one of the first passengers off the plane. Dressed in Dockers and a light blue short sleeve shirt, Sam couldn't help but think he looked hot!

Jack immediately picked Sam out of the crowd of people waiting for their friends and loved ones to disembark. She was wearing jeans and a pink sweater and Jack thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He pulled her into an embrace and held her tight as he whispered in her ear "Hey, beautiful! I'm glad to see you!"

"Me too, Jack!" She whispered back.

I was close to 5:00 PM when they arrived back at the house in Colorado Springs and the first thing they wanted to do was make love.

After nearly two hours of passion, playfulness and fulfilling each other's desires, the couple was fully dressed and discussing dinner options when the doorbell rang.

Sam was still fixing her hair and make up so Jack went to answer the door.

"Mitchell." Jack said as he found himself looking at the Lieutenant Colonel who was standing on his door step wearing jeans and a polo shirt.

"Uh...General O'Neill?" the Colonel stammered. He looked over his shoulder at his two friends waiting in the SUV, shrugged in their direction, then looked back at the General in confusion.

"Um, General is Sam here?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Well I, ...that is Daniel, Teal'c and I stopped by to see if she wanted to go out to eat with the team."

From somewhere in the house Cameron heard Sam's voice. "Who is it, Jack?"

The General turned to answer her "It's Mitchell."

Suddenly Sam appeared at the door beside Jack. "Hey, Cameron, what's up?" She asked.

"Ah..., well, we..." he waved a hand in the direction of the car "just wanted to know if you wanted to go out to eat with the team."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"O'Malley's."

Sam looked into Jack's eyes and he said "I haven't seen Daniel or Teal'c for about 5 months. It could be fun."

"Ok," Sam said to Cameron "we'll meet you there."

Cameron walked back to his SUV trying to put the pieces of the past year into place. Sam telling him that she had her reasons for requesting the job at Area 51, her initial reluctance to come back and join SG1, her occasional use of sarcasm and frequently not being interested in doing anything with the team.

Mitchell was still deep in thought as he climbed back into the car.

"Was that Jack?" Daniel inquired.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that was General O'Neill."

"Is O'Neill going to join us at O'Malley's?" Teal'c asked.

"Um, yeah, they're going to meet us there."

"Good. I have not spoken to O'Neill in quite some time. It should be a pleasant evening."

"Am I the only one who is surprised to find General O'Neill at Sam's house?"

"Um, yeah..."

"Indeed."

"What's going on with those two and why didn't I know anything about it?"

"Well, we don't know for sure what's going on with them, but we're definitely not surprised to see them together."

"Indeed. I have long suspected that Carter and O'Neill are in a relationship."

"Well, how come I'm the only one who doesn't know about this?" Cameron complained.

"For one thing," Daniel began explaining "you didn't work with Sam and Jack for eight years. And then there's that whole thing where you wanted Sam to come back from Area 51 and rejoin SG1. Now, as I understand the Air Force regs, she was legal to date him while she was there, but now that she's back on SG1 she's in Jack's chain of command again."

"That would explain why she has not told you of their relationship." Teal'c added helpfully.

"Do you think Landry knows?" Mitchell asked.

"That I do not know."

"Sam can keep a secret pretty well, but it's not like either of them to blatantly break the rules."

"Perhaps we should not speculate, but rather ask them when they join us at O'Malley's." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah, I guess so."

The three members of SG1 arrived at O'Malley's and asked the hostess for a table for five in the non-smoking section. Shortly after they were seated Sam and Jack entered the restaurant and were shown to SG1's table.

Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron immediately rose upon seeing Jack and Sam. Daniel shook hands with O'Neill and said "Great to see you, Jack!"

"You too, Daniel."

Teal'c firmly grasped Jack's forearm, bowed slightly and said "I am pleased to see you well, O'Neill."

"Back at ya, T."

"Um, yeah, well, have a seat." Cameron indicated the two chairs side by side that they had reserved for Sam and Jack.

"Thanks Cameron." Sam said as she sat down.

Soon everyone was getting caught up on the events of the past year and reliving past missions.

The alcoholic beverages were flowing freely and the group was relaxing and having a good time.

"Hey!" Daniel began after a particularly funny story about Urgo, "do you remember the time we all turned into Neanderthals on the Broca Divide planet?"

"I did not turn into a Neaderthal, Daniel Jackson."

"Yeah, just because you had a symbiote!" he retorted.

"Well, the only thing I remember about that whole ordeal was this sweet little cut off tank top a certain Captain was wearing..."

"Jaaaack!" Sam was blushing now, despite the fact that she had already had several beers.

"Whoa! Wait a minute General. I didn't see anything about this in any of the mission reports I read! Fill me in!" Insisted Cameron.

Jack grinned evilly at Sam and before he could say anything Daniel said "Well, Sam contracted the Broca virus and she tried..."

"Daniel!" Sam nearly shouted, but everyone was having too much fun to stop the story.

"She forcefully attempted to seduce O'Neill." Teal'c finished.

"Man! Why don't these things ever happen to me!" Cameron lamented.

"Of course there was the time when O'Neill and I were the only ones aware that we were stuck in a time loop..."

"Teal'c ..." Jack shot Teal'c a warning look, but the big man ignored it.

"Daniel Jackson suggested that we could do almost anything since every 10 hours the day would start over again and there would be no consequences for our actions." Teal'c continued.

"T, I don't think they need to know about this..." Jack gave the big man a warning look.

The Jaffa ignored the look and continued his narrative. "O'Neill chose one of the loops to hand his resignation to General Hammond."

"You resigned? Why?" Asked Carter.

Before Jack could get a word in, Teal'c continued "So that he could kiss you, which he did in front of General Hammond, myself, and all of the gate technicians that were present."

"So, **that's** why you kept looking at me that way!"

Jack shrugged.

"I've just got one question," Sam continued "did I kiss you back?"

"Oh, yeah!" He said and everyone laughed.

Just then the waitress brought the check and asked if anyone would like anything else.

It was Teal'c who answered "No, I believe we shall be going now."

"I hope you guys have a designated driver." The waitress said.

"I am the designated driver," the Jaffa stated.

It took very little for Teal'c to convince Sam and Jack that they should leave their truck at O'Malley's and allow him to drive them home. Once the group had arrived at Sam and Jack's home, everyone was having such a good time that it seemed too early to end the party.

Sam invited them all in and they gladly accepted her invitation.

As everyone found a place to sit in the living room, Jack passed out beers to his guests while Sam put out bowls of chips, nuts and pretzels.

"So, Jack," Daniel began "why don't you tell Cameron about the time we were all brainwashed and forced into slave labor producing power for the domed city on that ice planet."

"No, how about I tell him how you became addicted to the sarcophagus PX whatever it was and left us to die working in the naquada mines."

"Um, yeah,...well, I'm sure we can think of a happier story than that."

The beer continued to flow freely as did the stories of past exploits. Cameron tried to impress the group with some of his stories, but he had an uncanny lack of skill at story telling.

After a time, Sam excused herself to go to the restroom, and Daniel took that opportunity to ask the question that had been on his mind for a long time. "So, Jack, remember Harlan's planet?"

"How can I forget! What was that he always said? Come try out?"

"Cometrya." Teal'c supplied.

"Whatever."

"Well," Daniel began again, "remember when we first met our 'copies' and Sam's copy said that she was identical to Sam right down to the mole... well, did you ever find where that mole is?"

"Daniel! I can't believe you would ask something like that!" Jack replied in mock indignation, then added "and a very cute little mole it is too!"

"Hey, I've got a question!" a very inebriated Cameron began, not wanting to be left out. "So, tell me, General, is Sam good in bed?"

Daniel and Teal'c froze. They stared at Colonel Mitchell for a moment before Teal'c spoke.

"Cameron Mitchell, that is not an appropriate question to ask a superior officer and certainly inappropriate when the other person in question is your teammate."

Cameron laughed. "Yeah, but it's Sam. I have been curious ever since I met her years ago. I could never get anywhere with her and I..."

"Mitchell," Jack said in his most stern General's voice "you are talking about my **_wife_**."

Daniel seized that opportunity to both change the subject and lighten the mood. "Your **_wife_**? You didn't tell me you guys were married! How come Teal'c and I weren't invited to the wedding?"

"Because, Daniel, we had to get married quickly before she came back to the SGC; basically, while it was still legal." Jack said in his most irritated voice.

"Ah. That would explain why we weren't told about it." Daniel stated.

"Weren't told about what?" Sam asked as she came back into the room.

"O'Neill has just informed us that the two of you are married. Congratulations, Samantha." Teal'c said.

"Uh,... thanks. But, you guys know that you can't tell anyone about this, right?"

"Yeah, sure, Sam. We understand." Daniel said..

"Perhaps I should take Mitchell and Daniel Jackson home now." Teal'c said as he stood up.

"Um, yeah, we should probably be going..." Daniel added as he stood up.

"Hey, you guys find out that Jack and I are married and you want to run off? What's up with that?" Sam asked.

"It's not that," Daniel began "but Cam has had too much to drink and he's becoming more obnoxious than usual..."

"Hey!" Mitchell interjected but Daniel continued "and you really don't want to be around him when he's this abhorrent."

"That is so. And I must go to Dakara early tomorrow morning as well."

"Ok, well thanks for dinner. It was a lot of fun." Sam said.

"Good to see you again Daniel." Jack said as he shook the archeologist's hand. Then he turned toward Teal'c, grasped his forearm with his right hand and put his left hand on the big man's shoulder. "Take care T."

Teal'c bowed and said "Congratulations to you and Samantha."

"Thanks, T."

"Um, good night, General." Mitchell said sheepishly.

"Night, Mitchell."

The three members of SG1 left the house. Jack looked at Sam and detected a worried look. "C'mere," he said as he pulled her into a hug.

"You don't think they're going to..." Sam started to ask.

"Nope. And even if they do, the president already knows, so what's the big deal?"

Sam pulled away from him just enough to look into his eyes. She smiled at him and said "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right! So, you wanna go make babies?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

"Jaaack!"

"Ok, well we can just practice making babies!"

-x-x-x-x-


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Only a few weeks until season 10 of SG1 so, I thought I would just put one more little hint out there for TPTB!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Jackson!" Colonel Mitchell loudly greeted the archeologist as he entered Daniel's lab.

Startled, Daniel looked up from his work. "Don't you ever knock?" he asked.

Mitchell ignored the question and answered with his own question. "It's Saturday, what are you doing here?"

"Well, you're here," an exasperated Daniel replied.

"Ah, good point."

"So, what is it you want, or did you just come to bug me?"

"No, actually I came to see if you wanted to do a team night at O'Malley's tonight. I already asked Teal'c and he said it's ok with him if it's ok with the rest of SG1."

"Yeah, sure. O'Malley's sounds fine." Daniel replied.

"Ok, well then, will you call Sam?"

"Why don't you call her?" the archeologist questioned.

"Well, I think she's still a little pissed at me after that last incident on P4X-593." Mitchell replied.

"Alright, if it gets you out of my lab so I can do some work, I'll call her."

"Yes!" Mitchell cheered almost to himself.

Daniel got off his stool and walked over to the wall phone and dialed Sam's home number. On the third ring a familiar male voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Um...Jack?"

"Daniel?"

"I thought I dialed Sam's number."

"You did."

"Ah,...well...where is she?"

"She's in the shower."

Daniel then heard Jack's muffled voice say "It's Daniel." then a faint female voice he couldn't make out. Next he heard Jack's muffled voice say "I don't know. I'll ask him."

"Daniel, Sam wants to know if there's a message."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, um...Cameron wants to know if she wants to do a team night at O'Malley's tonight."

"Hold on, I'll ask her."

"Jackson, are you talking to General O'Neill?" Mitchell asked.

"Apparently."

Jack came back on the line. "She said to ask you if it's ok if she brings her boyfriend."

"Sure, Jack, you can come along too." Daniel replied, quickly picking up on the situation.

"Sweet."

"Meet us at O'Malley's at..." Daniel looked at Cameron who replied "1900 hours."

"1900 hours." Daniel repeated into the phone.

"Ok. Bye." Jack said and hung up the phone.

"So, is General O'Neill coming with us to O'Malley's?" Mitchell asked as Daniel replaced the phone receiver.

"Nope," he replied "Sam's boyfriend is coming with us to O'Malley's."

-x-x-x-


	37. 200

A/N: CAUTION: **_Possible_** spoilers for season 10. This idea was suggested by some people on the Gateworld Forum. There are some hints about episode 200 on the Gateworld website, so I took those and made my own scenario. Hope you enjoy.

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"General Landry," Cameron Mitchell whined, "I don't think talking to this Lloyd guy about a Wormhole Extreme movie is a good idea! We've got important work to do and I want to get on with it."

"Colonel Mitchell, I understand your reluctance, but these orders are coming from Washington. They believe that a sci-fi movie about the Stargate will help us keep the program a secret. Who will believe it if it's a movie?"

"But Sir," Cameron began again "I've been through the gate 199 times. My next trip through is a milestone! Number 200!"

"That's wonderful, but we are experiencing technical difficulty with the gate right now and all off world travel has been suspended. Enough stalling! Get in that briefing room!"

General Landry turned on his heel and walked briskly toward his office. A disgruntled Lt. Colonel Mitchell slowly walked toward the briefing room. He opened the door and was surprised to see not only the other members of SG1, but also Major General Jack O'Neill sitting at the table with Martin Lloyd, the film producer.

All conversation stopped as Mitchell opened the door and walked reluctantly into the room

Martin Lloyd was sitting at the head of the table while Teal'c and Daniel sat beside each other on one side of the table. Sam and Jack sat beside each other on the opposite side of the table so,Cameron took the only remaining chair, directly across from Marty. 

"Ok, where were we?" Martin asked after Mitchell had taken his seat.

"So, Marty, what do you think? We have this alien race that consumes everything in its path, in fact it goes out of its way to consume stuff, and then everything becomes part of the whole or collective, if you will."

"General O'Neill," Marty began, it's been done. You're talking about the Borg from Star Trek the Next Generation."

Jack looked at Sam and whispered "Actually, I was talking about the replicators..."

Sam gave Jack a brief smile then turned her attention to Teal'c as he began talking.

"Martin Lloyd, I believe you need a truly evil villain who turns out to be the father of one of the heros of the movie."

"Been there. Done that." Martin rolled his eyes as he said in disgust, "Star Wars!"

Teal'c raised one eyebrow, looked at Martin with his head cocked to one side, but said nothing further.

"Ok, how about this," Daniel began speaking quickly "The ancient pyramids in Egypt are really landing pads for alien space craft!"

"No one would believe that!" Martin cried in indignation.

"Hey, Marty, we're giving you are best stuff here, what more do you want?" Jack asked in frustration.

"Something I can use?" He replied.

"Uh, General, let me give this a shot," Cameron began.

"Knock yourself out," Jack replied.

"Ok, so, our intrepid explorers go through the stargate and end up on a world ruled by an evil woman who everyone thinks is a god. We'll call her...um...Elphaba. So Elphaba has an army of flying monkeys to protect her and technology that the locals all think is magic."

"Nice." Jack interjected with a smile.

"So, our heros, there are four of them, all have different traits. One of them is an intellectual, one is very brave and strong, one is very emotional, although he tries not to show it, and the woman, well, she's what holds them all together."

"I like it!" Sam said.

"It's the Wizard of Oz!" Martin nearly screamed.

"Hey, just trying to help," Cameron replied and received an encouraging nod from General O'Neill in the process.

"I believe that your movie needs a love interest." Teal'c stated.

All heads turned to look at him simultaneously so no one noticed the slight flush that had crept into Sam's cheeks or the pale worried look on Jack's face.

"This is sci-fi not a chick flick!" Martin exclaimed.

"Yeah, but Captain Kirk was always getting lucky with the ladies." Cameron added helpfully.

Teal'c continued. "I believe that the team leader and the second in command of the team should get married."

"What?" Cameron and Daniel asked simultaneously.

"It's against the regs!" Sam and Jack blurted out together.

"Not if they get married while they are not in the same chain of command, O'Neill."

Sam and Jack were staring intently at Teal'c who was calmly looking back at them. Daniel was carefully studying the faces of Sam and Jack, while Cameron and Marty looked back and forth between the two sides of the table feeling as if they had missed out on something really important.

After a moment, that seemed like an eternity, Sam said "Te..., um...Murray, let's just drop this subject."

"Wait a minute, this has possibilities. Murray, please continue." Martin encouraged.

"Both the leader of SG1 and the second in command could be sent to other commands. While at the other commands the two elope to Las Vegas. The Air Force then calls them back to the SGC, puts them back on the same team together and only they, and the audience know that they are married. It could make all story lines for the movie more interesting as the two attempt to hide their relationship from everyone."

"Yes! Yes! I like it!" Marty exclaimed.

"You do?" Sam asked incredulously.

"I thought you said you didn't want this to be a chick flick." Jack questioned.

"No, it wouldn't be. But think of the plot possibilities... our hero has to try not to show favoritism to his wife, he has to send her into dangerous situations and never knows if she will be coming back. As for her, she has the same concerns for him. He gets hurt and she worries about him, but yet has to remain professional at the same time. It's great!"

General Landry suddenly entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, but something has come up. Mr. Lloyd, the SF will see you to the surface. The rest of you need to stay for a pre-mission briefing."

"Oh, thank God!" A relieved Mitchell said.

As soon as Martin was out of the room Sam asked "What's the mission, General?"

"Oh, no mission. The gate's still down, but I figured you guys needed a break from Marty."

"Thank you!" Daniel exclaimed.

"So, anyone hungry?" Jack asked.

"I could eat." Daniel replied.

As everyone stated to file out of the room Daniel stopped Jack and waited until the rest of the group was gone to ask the question that had been burning in his mind since Teal'c brought up the subject.

"So, Jack, did you and Sam elope to Las Vegas when she was at Area 51?"

"What do you think?" Jack asked evasively as he led the way out of the conference room.

-x-x-x-x-


	38. Chapter 38

_**Pegasus Tag **_

A/N: Contains mild spoilers for the season 10 episode "The Pegasus Project". This is what I think should have happened after SG1 returned to Earth._**  
**_

_**-x-x-x-x- **_

It was a Saturday afternoon in late July as Major General Jack O'Neill sat on the couch in his small Arlington, Virginia apartment sipping a beer and watching a baseball game on TV. Jack didn't have much interest in either of the teams that were playing, but the game helped him keep him mind off other things.

SG1 was on their way back to Earth in the Odyssey after a very successful mission in the Pegasus Galaxy. Not only did they deploy a stargate near the event horizon of a black hole and successfully establish a worm hole to the Ori super gate, they managed to destroy a Wraith Hive Ship and an Ori ship in the process. Not to mention that Daniel was able to get the gate addresses to two possible planets where Merlin's Ori killing machine might be located.

Jack was feeling quite proud of his old team, but that pride was mingled with longing to be with them instead of flying a desk at the Pentagon. But for all that pride and longing there was one more emotion plaguing Jack this afternoon, the worst one of all, loneliness.

As he watched the images on the screen Jack wondered at his situation. He had been married to Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter for over a year now, but other than Daniel, Teal'c, Cassie and General Hank Landry, no one knew. Jack didn't want anyone to think that Sam hadn't deserved every promotion she received or that she received preferential treatment because of him.

Although there were times Jack wanted to stand on top of Cheyenne Mountain and shout as loud as he could "I am in love with Doctor, Colonel, Samantha Carter!", he was ok with the secrecy. What he wasn't ok with was the huge amount of time they had to spend away from each other. Even though they went for long periods of time without seeing each other, they could still talk on the phone and send e-mails. This mission had been different.

It took the Odyssey two weeks just to get to the Pegasus Galaxy, another 10 days to complete all their missions and begin the two week journey back to Earth. Jack hadn't seen or talked to Sam for over six weeks and at this moment he wanted to be with her more than anything.

Jack's cell phone rang startling him and pulling him out of his melancholy.

He flipped open the device. "O'Neill."

"Jack, it's Landry. They are in orbit."

"Nice! Have Colonel Emerson beam me to the SGC as soon as possible."

"Um,...Jack,...why do you want to be beamed to the SGC?"

"I want to be there for the debriefing. This is the first real success we have had against the Ori and I don't want to read the dry, boring mission reports. Instead, I'll sit through the dry, boring debriefing."

Hank was not convinced but answered "Very well, I'll contact Colonel Emerson and have you beamed to the briefing room at the SGC."

"Good. See you in a few minutes." Jack snapped his cell phone shut, went to his bedroom and grabbed a small duffle bag that he had already packed and waited to beamed to the SGC.

Five minutes later General O'Neill was standing alone in the middle of the conference room deep in Cheyenne Mountain. He took the opportunity to stash his bag in a corner where it wouldn't be noticed.

Suddenly he heard voices and footsteps in the hall outside the conference room. The door opened and the first person to enter the room was Colonel Samantha Carter. She stopped short when she saw Jack O'Neill standing at the head of the conference table wearing jeans, a light blue shirt and a big smile.

"Ja...um, General, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Yes, well, as long as the Odyssey was in orbit I just had Emerson beam me here. I thought it would be much easier to sit in on the debriefing than to read all those dull mission reports."

Jack smiled at her and their eyes locked. The General had to force himself to break eye contact with Sam when he heard Daniel's voice. "Jack, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to congratulate you on a successful mission, Danny Boy!"

"I am pleased to see you O'Neill." Teal'c said with a slight bow.

"General O'Neill, nice of you to drop in." Mitchell said with a grin.

"General O'Neill," Vala purred as she sidled up next to him and looped her arm through his.

"Vala..." Daniel said in a warning tone as he grabbed her free arm and pulled her away from Jack.

"Ok, people let's get this meeting started," Hank Landry stated as he took his seat at the head of the table. Jack sat beside him and Colonel Carter across from Jack.

The mission debrief lasted an agonizing two hours during which Jack and Sam had difficulty concentrating on the business at hand without the help of gentle nudges, both verbal and physical, from Daniel and Teal'c.

After General Landry dismissed the group Mitchell piped up "So, General O'Neill, how 'bout a team night with the old SG1?"

Jack stole a quick glance at Sam before answering "It sounds like fun, but I need to get back to Washington and brief the President."

"Ok, next time you're in town then."

"You betcha." Jack replied.

Mitchell turned to Carter "So, Sam you up for team night tonight?"

"I don't think so, Cam. It's been a long mission and I just want to get home and sleep in my own bed."

"Gotcha. We'll do team night another time then."

"You bet, Cam."

Cameron Mitchell left the briefing room leaving just the two O'Neills standing in there.

"You don't really have to go back and brief the President do you?" Sam asked.

Jack cocked his head to one side and grinned "Not **_today_**."

"Sweet." She replied.

Sam quickly changed into her civilian clothes and soon the two of them were on their way home.

As they began the commute to Sam's house she said "You will never guess what Rodney McKay told me."

"You two actually had a conversation that didn't involve arguing?" Jack asked incredulously.

Sam glanced at Jack, rolled her eyes and continued her story. "Do you remember when I was on the Prometheus alone and had a severe concussion? I was hallucinating and I saw you , Daniel Teal'c and my Dad. The hallucinations helped me solve the problem and survive."

"Yeah..." Jack prompted.

"Well, apparently McKay had a similar experience and he hallucinated me. He said I saved his life."

Jack was silent for a moment then he looked at her and asked "Were you naked?"

Sam made a face as if she had tasted something particularly unpleasant. "Partially."

The two drove on in silence for a few moments before Jack asked "So, when you hallucinated me...was I naked?"

"No!"

"Oh," He said sounding disappointed.

After a beat Sam said "but, I did kiss you."

"Ah."

"What?" She asked.

"Well, that explains why you called me Jack when you woke up in the infirmary."

"I did?" She asked, astonished.

"So, Carter, was I a good kisser?"

She grinned "Not as good as in real life!"

"Sweet!"

-x-x-x-x-x-


	39. Wormhole XTreme

**Wormhole X-Treme The Movie**

A/N: Spoilers for episode 200 - only if you haven't seen the promos on TV for the episode. This is just one of many ways I would like to see this scene played out.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Vala, General O'Neill, and the members of SG1 had were seated around the table in the briefing room at the SGC. For the past several hours they had been trying to give the film producer, Martin Lloyd ideas for his upcoming Wormhole X-Treme movie.

Marty did not believe that things were going well. In fact, he felt that the people sitting at the table with him were not taking his Wormhole X-Treme movie seriously. The group had been laughing, joking, and coming up with totally outlandish ideas for scenes in the movie.

Just then Colonel Carter's voice pulled Martin back from his musing. "I think we should do a Lord of the Rings tie-in."

"No! Wait!" Daniel rushed ahead, "I think we need to have the Colonel, what was his name...Danning? Oh, well it doesn't matter. Anyway, he should get married to his second in command in the gateroom!"

"Oh fer cryin' out loud, Daniel. That's so clicheེ."

"I think it could be great fun, General," Vala began "You could have Walter as the ring bearer, make a flower covered archway out of the gate..."

"Put a pink carpet on the gate ramp," Mitchell added helpfully.

"Oh, and Thor could do the officiating!" Daniel said enthusiastically.

"Many of the SGC personnel could quietly collect payment on their bets as the Major walked down the isle." Teal'c intoned, getting into the spirit of the scene.

"I mean, think of it, Jack. How many funerals have we held in the gateroom?" Daniel asked. "So why not have you and Sam get married in the gateroom?"

Sam blushed and looked down for just a moment. Talking about Marty's characters was one thing, but when Daniel blatantly suggested that Sam and Jack get married in the gateroom it hit too close to home and too close to the truth.

Jack risked a quick glance at Sam before saying "Well, some of those funerals **_were_** a bit premature." He knew this scenario was making Sam uneasy and he wanted to change the subject.

Daniel suddenly noticed Sam's reaction to the discussion. "Hey, you guys aren't married already are you?"

"Jackson, you can't be serious! The General and Sam? That's cra..." Mitchell looked into the faces of General O'Neill and Colonel Carter and suddenly realized that there was something between the two of them.

"You are married!" Daniel exclaimed. "How could you go off and get married and not invite any of us to the wedding? Forget not inviting us, you didn't even tell us!"

Sam and Jack exchanged a look, but neither said a word.

"Well, then, it's all settled," Vala began "You will just have to get married again so that we can all attend your wedding. Ooh, and I get to be the maid of honor!"

"Will there be cake?" Jack asked.

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Of course there will be cake. We'll get the biggest damn cake you've ever seen!" Vala exclaimed.

"But, if you two get married in Marty's movie, Sam will have to get hair extensions because we all know that Sam and Jack are only married in alternate universes!" Daniel said with a smile.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	40. Deja Vu 3

**Deja Vu 3**

A/N: With all the speculation about episode "200" I'm afraid that what we will get is a lot of fantasy and alternate universe stuff and what I want is just a brief scene for us shippers to know that Sam and Jack are together. So here's another suggestion for episode "200".

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After being cooped up in the conference room with Martin Lloyd, the film produce, for four straight hours Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was very happy to get a break. While she had enjoyed spoofing SG1's adventures and sitting next to Major General Jack O'Neill, she really wanted some alone time in her lab.

Sam turned the corner in the hallway outside the briefing room just in time to see the elevator doors start to close. "Hold the elevator!" she called out as she jogged to slide into the machine just before the doors closed.

Sam suddenly found herself alone in the elevator with Major General Jack O'Neill. She smiled at Jack as she reached in front of him to push the button for her floor. She began humming a tune which sounded to Jack suspiciously like the theme song to a Sci-fi TV show.

"Humming?" Jack asked her.

"I am?" she replied.

"You are."

" Sorry."

"What's his name?"

"Now why would you ..."

"Humming," he said.

"Jack."

"Yes?"

"No, that's his name. Jack."

"And what does **_Jack_** do?"

"Oh, not much. He's the just the head of Homeworld Security."

"Sounds like a shrub to me!"

"Are you jealous, Sir?"

"Now why would I be jealous, Carter?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just thought maybe you still cared about me."

"Is it serious with this Homeworld Security guy?"

"I love him."

Jack reached out and pushed the elevator stop button trapping them between floors.

"Why did you do that?" Sam asked.

"Because the bathrooms and the elevators are the only places on this base where there are no security cameras." Jack replied as he closed the distance between him and Sam.

Jack took Sam's face in his hands and kissed her then pulled her into a tight hug. He whispered in her ear "I love you too, Sam."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-


	41. 200 Fix

_**Episode 200 Fix**_

A/N: More spoilers for episode "200", so if you don't want to be spoiled, look away now! This is my shippy episode fix.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

All of SG1, Vala and General O'Neill were in the briefing room at the SGC giving Martin Lloyd, the film producer, ideas for his upcoming Wormhole X-Treme movie. Vala had suggested ending the movie with a wedding and Marty rejected that idea out of hand.

Suddenly, General Landry stepped into the briefing room and announced that the gate was now working. Everyone eagerly rushed from the room to get dressed in their off-world BDUs leaving Marty standing there alone.

Major General Jack O'Neill purposely slowed his pace in the hallway allowing all of SG1 to get ahead of him except for Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. Sam noticed Jack falling behind and slowed down to walk beside him.

"Sir?" she questioned.

Jack stopped walking, put a hand on Sam's arm, and turned to look at her. "You don't think that Vala...um...suspects...that we..."

Sam looked into his dark eyes and smiled. "No. I think when she suggested a wedding she was referring to her and Daniel."

Jack's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, no, I don't mean that's there's anything going on with Daniel and Vala, it's just that, knowing Vala's personality, I think that's what she was thinking."

"Oh." The General seemed to relax.

"So...do you think we better catch up to the others before someone notices our absence?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just one more thing," Jack looked deep into Sam's eyes and she felt a longing to hold him and kiss him. It had been several weeks since they had seen each other, but here in the SGC, they would have to wait.

"Yes," she prompted softly.

"Pizza or Chinese tonight?"

Sam laughed and the couple fell into step beside each other to go off world together on a simple reconnaissance mission.

-x-x-x-


	42. Christmas in Atlantis

**A/N: This is a shortened version of the story Christmas in Atlantis that was edited to be included in A Hint to the Powers That Be. For the full story go to: Christmas in Atlantis by ljevans **

Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, UA/MGM, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, stories and situations are the property of the author

**Christmas in Atlantis**

Major General Jack O'Neill looked sharp, wearing his full dress uniform as he entered the private party room that was reserved for the Pentagon holiday party at the Washington Hilton. It was twenty hundred hours on Saturday, December 23rd and the last place in the universe Jack O'Neill wanted to be, was attending a mandatory party with a bunch of Pentagon bigwigs, politicos and the power mongers those types attracted.

As Jack entered the huge party room he immediately noticed the small jazz combo playing "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" while a young male singer with a velvet voice crooned "When we finally kiss goodnight, how I'll hate going out in the snow..."

Jack headed straight for the open bar and ordered a whiskey seven. He power slammed the drink and ordered a second one. As he was waiting for his drink to arrive an Army General came up beside him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Jack! Glad to see you made it!"

"Bradshaw. Army intelligence." Jack said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice that seemed to escape the Army man.

"I love these things, Jack. You can always get lucky with some hot, young babe at these soirees."

"Right. Good luck with that." Jack said as he walked away from the Army General.

"You need to lighten up, Jack!" Bradshaw called after him

With drink in hand, Jack headed to the hors d'oeuvres table. As he stood there for a moment trying to decide if he really wanted the cheese and crackers, a 20 something woman in a slinky red dress sidled up to him. "Good evening, General." She purred as her arm brushed against his. "I was hoping you would be here tonight."

"Why?" He asked bluntly.

"I was hoping we could get together later this evening. Just the two of us?"

Jack rubbed his forehead with the hand that was not holding his whisky and seven. The band began playing "Merry Christmas, Darling" and Jack mused that the female singer sounded just like Karen Carpenter.

"I think General Bradshaw was looking for you just a minute ago. You know him, Army Intelligence? Now if you will excuse me for a moment?" Jack said as he slipped away from the viper in the red dress. O'Neill downed the rest of his drink and quickly made his way back to the bar. He ordered another drink and while he was waiting for the cocktail he let the words of the song wash over his mind. "Merry Christmas, Darling. We're apart, that's true. But I can dream and in my dreams, I'm Christmasing with you."

The bartender turned around to hand Jack his drink, but he was gone. Jack headed directly for the taxi stand in front of the hotel, climbed into the first waiting cab and told the driver to take him to the Pentagon. Jack settled in the back seat, looked out the window of the cab at the snow that had begun to fall and tried to stop his mind from dwelling on all the loss he had experienced in his life.

Upon arriving at the Pentagon, General O'Neill went straight to his office and picked up the red phone on his desk that was a direct line to Stargate Command. It was Saturday, December 22nd and Jack was afraid that General Landry would not be there to answer the call, so he was pleasantly surprised when Hank picked up on the second ring.

"Hank, this is Jack. Listen, I need to have you contact the Odyssey and have them beam me to the SGC immediately."

"What's wrong, Jack?" Landry asked with great concern.

"I'll explain when I get there." Jack hung up the phone and waited. In less than two minutes he was standing in Hank Landry's office deep in Cheyenne Mountain.

"What's this all about, Jack?"

"I need to go to Atlantis immediately."

"Immediately? You know that with the stargate network that Dr. Lee and Colonel Carter set up and your own 24 hour layover rule at the halfway point, it will be December 24th before you arrive in Atlantis." Landry prompted.

"What's your point?"

"Well, what's so important that you need to go to Atlantis on Christmas Eve?"

"Just dial the damn gate!"

It was December 24th and Colonel Samantha Carter had given everyone in Atlantis, except for duty personnel, 24 hours off to celebrate the holidays. Time off in Atlantis was rare and everyone was in a festive mood. A holiday party had been planned complete with decorations, favorite holiday foods and a gift exchange.

Colonel Carter sat alone in her dimly lit office typing an e-mail as the last minute preparations for the party were being made. She had been struggling with the right words for the letter when Lieutenant Colonel John Shepherd came into her office. "Hey, Sam, we're ready to begin the party, but nobody wants to start without you."

Sam looked up at John and sighed. "Just let me send off this e-mail and I'll join you." She said.

Sam deleted everything she had written and typed:

_Dear Jack,_

_I miss you. I love you, and I need you._

_Love always._

_Sam._

She hit the send button and closed the lid of her laptop. "Let's go." She said to Shepherd.

The two officers fell silently into step as they walked toward the cafeteria and the happy sounds that filled the air. Neither officer spoke, but they each understood the other's pain. Sam knew that John had feelings for Elizabeth Weir that went beyond that of two co-workers and that he missed her. He didn't know whether to grieve her loss or hold out hope that he could still find her and bring her safely back to Atlantis.

John was the only person on Atlantis that knew Sam Carter was married to General Jack O'Neill. He knew all too well the pain of being so incredibly far away from loved ones. He also knew that, due to the nature of their jobs, Sam and Jack got precious little time together.

Just as they reached the mess decks and the holiday party, a klaxon sounded and the duty gate technician announced "Unscheduled offworld activation!"

John Shepherd and Samantha Carter turned and ran to the gate room as quickly as possible with Teyla, Rodney and Ronan on their heels.

"Report!" Sam commanded the gate technician.

"Receiving IDC. It's General O'Neill!"

"Open the iris!" Sam ordered.

The titanium shield protecting Atlantis from enemies coming through the gate, rotated quickly out of the way, revealing the shimmering blue event horizon. After a few seconds General Jack O'Neill stepped through the gate and into Atlantis.

"Welcome to Atlantis, General." Sam said with a smile that went all the way to her eyes. "What brings you here on Christmas Eve?"

"I had a little time off from my regular duties so I thought this would be a good time to do an inspection tour."

"I knew it!" Rodney exclaimed. "Everyone wants to know more about my groundbreaking work with the Replicators' nano technology! General, if you will follow me to my lab I would be glad to show you what I am currently working on..."

"McKay!" O'Neill interupted, "it's not that kind of an inspection."

"What?! But, my work is brilliant! I have reprogrammed the nanites with a base nine code that..."

"Ah! Carter!" Jack looked at her for help.

"Rodney, General O'Neill wants to get an overview of how everything is working here in Atlantis, not to get into details of any one project."

McKay looked crushed by this information but Sam added "Why don't all of you go back to the party and I will show the General around."

"It is a pleasure to see you again General O'Neill." Teyla said as she stepped forward to lead the group back to the party.

"Uh, yeah." Ronan agreed as he followed Teyla out of the gateroom.

"I just can't believe he doesn't want to see my nano technology research." Rodney complained to John as the Colonel led him back to the party.

Sam sighed and smiled at Jack.

"Should we begin the inspection with your office, Colonel?" Jack said with a wink.

Sam ducked her head to hide the huge smile on her face from the gate technician. "Right this way, General."

The couple fell silently into step as they walked briskly toward Sam's office.

"So, I like what you've done with the place." Jack said as he looked around Sam's office. She grinned at him and he said softly "C'mere."

Sam and Jack melted into each other's arms and Jack placed tender kisses on Sam's neck as she clung to him as if she was afraid he was going to be instantly snatched away from her.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear.

"For what?"

"For coming to see me."

**"**Always."


	43. Valentine's Day in Alexandria

A/N: This fic, written for Valenship Day, was inspired by the news that Colonel Carter will not be on SGA in Season 5.

----------------------------------------------------------

It was Valentine's Day and Major General Jack O'Neill stood waiting impatiently in the gate control room deep in Cheyenne Mountain for the ancient Stargate to spin to life. He chatted with Sergeant Harriman about the weather and then resumed pacing. After what seemed like hours the outer ring of the Stargate began to spin and Walter Harriman announced "Incoming wormhole, General."

"It's about damn time!" Jack chided, as if Walter had anything to do with how long it took for the gate to begin its receiving sequence.

Before the second chevron was locked Jack was standing at the end of the ramp in the gate room. Finally the 7th chevron locked and Walter called out over the intercom "Receiving IDC, Sir. It's Colonel Carter".

"Open the iris," Jack commanded.

The protective titanium barrier churned out of the way and, after a few seconds, Colonel Samantha Carter appeared through the event horizon. The shimmering blue light behind her disappeared and Jack walked up the ramp to greet her.

"It's about time you got here!" he said as he pulled her into a hug.

"I missed you too, Jack" Sam replied with a chuckle as she held him close.

"I've got a ride waiting for us. Walter, inform the Deadelous that we're ready to beam up."

Within seconds Sam and Jack had been transported from the SGC to Jack's living room in his small Alexandria, Virginia apartment.

"I thought that maybe Teal'c and Daniel would be at the SGC when I got there," Sam commented as she set her small overnight bag down on the coffee table.

"Yeah, well, Teal'c is off in Jaffa Land and Daniel is doing...uh...something important, ...um...somewhere."

Sam smiled at Jack's typical response and he said "C'mere."

As she melted into Jack's arms Sam softly sighed "God, I missed you!"

Jack abruptly pulled away from her and exclaimed "This sucks!"

"I beg your pardon?!"

Jack looked into Sam's angry and confused eyes "Oh, no! Not you, not us, the situation!"

He motioned for her to sit on the sofa. Jack sat down beside her, ran his hand through his hair, blew out a breath and looked into her deep blue eyes. "Sam, I am going to retire."

Her eyes got wide, but she said nothing, waiting for him to finish the speech he had prepared.

"Sam, we've put our lives and happiness on hold for too damn long. We've saved the world more times than I can remember. I have to plan a date with my wife months in advance and I'm tired of it! I want a semi-normal life while I'm still young enough to enjoy it."

"What are you going to do? Go fishing?"

Jack grinned slightly "For awhile..."

Sam turned her head sideways "Well..." she prompted.

"When I retire the President will offer my position to Hank Landry. That means they will need a new commander for the SGC."

"What are you suggesting, Jack?"

"I know a brilliant Colonel who would do a great job as the head of the SGC."

Sam looked at him blankly for a moment before protesting, "But Jack, that's a general's billet."

"Not necessarily. Besides, you are the most qualified person in the universe to head up the SGC. Now that we've taken care of the Ori and the Goa'uld the SGC will be much more involved in research and development. That stuff is right up your alley."

Jack carefully watched Sam's face before he played the ace he had up his sleeve.

"We could go house hunting _**together**_ in Colorado Springs this weekend. We could find a place that we **_both_** like. Cassie is there and we could be a normal family."

A smile slowly spread over Sam's face until it reached her eyes. "Do you really think I could get the position as head of the SGC?"

"Sam..."

"Ok, what kind of a timeline are we looking at here."

"Well, you need to finish your full tour at Atlantis so, I'll put in to retire just before your year is up. I'll also talk to the President about all of this before I do anything, just to make sure we can get all of our plans to work out."

"Wow," Sam said softly, "This is quite a Valentine's Day present. And I didn't get you anything."

"Well, your shopping opportunities on Atlantis are limited, ...but there is something you could do for me..."

Sam gave Jack a look that said _'Oh, no! What do you want me to do?'_

Jack waggled his eyebrows at her and let her wonder what was on his mind for a few seconds before he said "How about going house hunting in Colorado Springs?"

Sam gazed into Jack's eyes and before she could answer he said "I've already reserved us a room at the Marriott, and Daniel wants to have us over for supper tomorrow night. You know his cooking, so it will probably be Chinese take out. Oh, Teal'c and Cassie will be there too."

"Pretty sure I would say yes to all this weren't you?"

"I was hoping."

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as I grab my suitcase and get Hank to beam us back to the SGC."

"Let's go!"

"Did I mention that I love you?"

"Not recently."

"Well, consider it mentioned." Jack said as he took Sam's face in his hands, his warm lips meeting hers. He deepened the kiss, then suddenly pulled away.

Sam's eyes questioned him and Jack replied "Let's continue this in the whirlpool tub in our room at the Marriott!"

Sam smiled and nodded at her husband, stood up and held out a hand for him. "Well, come on Jack, let's go!"

---------------


End file.
